Sweet Mistake
by SeaBreeze
Summary: Kenshin's getting married- but is it to the right girl? And if its not, how can a stripper fix it?
1. Decisions

Sweet Mistake  
  
Decisions  
  
By Seabreeze  
  
A/N: I was inspired greatly by all these wonderful Ken/Kao fics, so I decided to write my own. Granted, it won't be near as good, but I hope to make it kawaii. "Sweet Mistake" was also inspired by the song "Pretty Baby" by Vanessa Carlton. It's so sweet and innocent. . . anyways. I hope you enjoy. Please read and review.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Sano slapped Kenshin heartily on the back.  
  
"Come on, Kenshin, this is your bachelor party! Have a little fun!"  
  
"Demo. . . Sano. . . you know I can't take much. . ."  
  
"Exactly, and this is your last night to risk it. So drink up." Sano smiled so sincerely that Kenshin only studied his face for a moment before relenting. Sano crowed and grabbed the sake before filling Kenshin's glass quickly. "You won't regret this, buddy." Kenshin took the sake and gulped it down, grinning.  
  
"You'd better not be lying, Sanosuke." He looked at the empty glass wonderingly. 'I'll be smashed within minutes.' He thought guiltily.  
  
"Tomoe can't get angry with you for getting drunk two nights before your wedding, after all." Sano conspicuously refilled Kenshin's glass. Kenshin looked down at it, surprised.  
  
"I thought I just drank that!" he found his thoughts to be fuzzy. "I suppose I only thought so, that I did." Once again, Kenshin downed the glass of sake easily as Sano exchanged overly mischievous glances with the other rowdy guys at the party.  
  
"Now, Sano?" one of them whispered. Sano shook his head before pouring Kenshin yet ANOTHER glassful of sake.  
  
"Three more refills for Kenshin, and then you can."  
  
"But by then. . ."  
  
"Alright. You can call them now."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Thirty minutes later, "they" arrived in tall boots, short skirts, and long jackets. By the sounds the men made, it was just in time, too. The seven girls spread out randomly, heading towards whichever man caught their eye first. Sano kept a sharp eye out for a small one- one he had specifically asked for for Kenshin. He found her easily, because she was the only one already not dancing provocatively with a man. The girl was certainly petite; in fact, Sano scrutinized, just the perfect size for Kenshin. She was delicate looking with porcelain skin and midnight black hair below her waist. The hair, so shiny it looked blue, was pulled back with a blue ribbon. Her eyes were also blue, an intense and innocent, wide- eyed kind of blue.  
  
'I wouldn't mind this one myself,' Sano thought cockily, approaching her. 'But tonight's for Kenshin.'  
  
"Hello, Miss, my name's Sano." He bowed to the girl, who smiled stiffly at him.  
  
"Ah, so you're the one who called. I'm Jou-chan. Can you show me the guy I'm supposed to. . .?" Jou-chan was so naïve looking that Sano was shocked she was a stripper. He nodded.  
  
"The red-headed guy. That's Kenshin." He couldn't help but grin, knowing that for the first time ever, Kenshin would have a REAL good time.  
  
"Arigato." The girl barely smiled at him before she headed towards Kenshin's corner, where he was leaning against the wall drunkenly. Sano frowned as he watched the girl's hourglass form. He hoped she was of age. She didn't look it. Shrugging, he turned to find a stripper of his own.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jou-chan approached her assignment- a short, red-haired man with a cross-shaped scar on one cheek. Despite the fact that the man- Kenshin, was it?- was completely and utterly drunk, he was cute. VERY cute. So cute, in fact, that she wished strippers were allowed to date.  
  
'No, Kaoru,' she berated herself. 'Even if we could, he's getting married.' Shaking her head, she leaned against him seductively.  
  
"Mind if I have this dance?" she asked. Kenshin took a moment to focus his eyes on her.  
  
"You're very pretty, Miss," his voice was uncontrolled yet polite. Kaoru wondered how this was possible. "But I'm getting married to Tomoe in two days, and I don't even know you." Now Kaoru was shocked. She had never, ever been turned down. No man could resist Kaoru's illegally innocent charm. She giggled.  
  
"It's your bachelor party. You should have some fun, ne?" Kaoru pressed her lips into his neck gently and rolled her hips. Kenshin put his hands on her hips, as if to quell them, and it almost worked. His hands were strong and powerful, yet gentle. Kaoru felt herself stop moving at his touch- this man was amazing. She felt under his control just by being near him, let alone being touched by him. She barely noticed that the other man- Sano- was talking to her.  
  
"I'll pay you double if you sleep with him," Sano whispered. Kenshin leaned around Kaoru.  
  
"What're you saying to Miss- I don't know her name. What are you saying to her, Sanosuke?" Sano ignored him. Kaoru considered. Double would be nice- and she certainly needed it. The only thing was- and she was ashamed to admit it- she was a virgin.  
  
But she needed the money.  
  
Badly.  
  
Kaoru nodded.  
  
"Deal." She said. Sano hooted and handed her half the pay ("The rest will come tomorrow morning."). Kenshin seemed confused.  
  
"Miss, what do I call you? What's going on?" he sounded lost, but his grip on her hips told her he was in control. Kaoru began swaying her hips seductively again.  
  
"You can call me Jou-chan."  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: Hmmm. Well, what do you think? If you want confirmation, yes, I am a Kenshin/Kaoru fan. * cough * Please read and review. I'd love to hear what you think. 


	2. Fallen

Sweet Mistake  
  
Fallen  
  
By Seabreeze  
  
A/N: Yeah, I'm not gonna do a lemon. I'm just not a lemony-type person. Um, at all.  
  
Disclaimer: * whine * I hate these things. I own nothing, you IDGET! I'll be putting clips of lyrics from Vanessa Carlton's "Pretty Baby" throughout the entire story, so I don't own that song either.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Kaoru awoke to clean, white sheets and an arm draped over her stomach. She blinked and realized that had happened- she had slept with the bachelor, Kenshin. Turning quietly, she watched him sleep with a frown on his face- the hangover, no doubt. She smiled. He was terribly adorable.  
  
Not to mention that she was now completely in love with him.  
  
And it hadn't taken long. She loved the way he moved, the way he was so strong and gentle at the same time, the way his red hair brushed his vision, the scar across his cheek, the wide purple eyes that told so much without saying anything. She loved how he was so polite even through his drunkenness, and how he kept insisting that he couldn't do anything because of "Tomoe". She sighed, suddenly depressed.  
  
She didn't have an iceburg's chance in hell. First of all, Kenshin was so obviously in love with "Tomoe", and was getting married to her. Tomorrow. Secondly, she was a stripper. Now that she thought about it, a prostitute.  
  
Kami, what was she thinking? Sleeping with a bachelor for double pay. How stupid. And now she was nothing but a whore- did Kenshin think she was a whore? And how could he not? She felt angry tears well in her eyes, and she let them fall silently. How could she be such an idiot? She tried to pull away from his arm, but his soft voice stopped her.  
  
"You're crying." It wasn't a question. How did he know? "Would you like to talk about it?" That voice. It was so gentle. . . she burst into a sob at his sudden kindness. She was only a complete stranger, and a prostitute to boot. "Turn around, Miss. I won't judge, that I won't." Slowly, Kaoru did as he said. Upon seeing her face, Kenshin's purple eyes widened in surprise.  
  
"I knew you were beautiful, but you're so young," his voice wasn't judging, as he had said. She felt as if she were ice cream melting in his hands. He continued, his voice now filled with concern. "A girl like you shouldn't be doing things like this." Kaoru turned her head quickly. How did he make her feel so guilty? It was her job, after all. He smiled softly at her reaction. "Don't feel bad." He said. "I just think you could do so much better."  
  
He paused for a moment.  
  
"How old are you, anyway, Miss?" His eyes were so kind. Kaoru thought quickly.  
  
"Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked quietly. Kenshin cocked his head to the side, and Kaoru fell all over again. "I made you betray your fiancé the night before your wedding!" she felt herself drowning in shame. The man smiled.  
  
"It wasn't all your fault, that it was not. I blame Sanosuke." He sat up in the bed, stretching and yawning. Wide blue eyes watched him as he wrapped one of the blankets around his waist and stood. He paused again and turned towards her.  
  
"What is your name, Miss? Your real one?" he actually wanted to know. Kaoru felt her heart skip a beat. No stripper ever told a man her real name. No stripper ever fell in love, either.  
  
"Kaoru."  
  
"Ah, Miss Kaoru." He seemed to think about it, and Kaoru loved her name when he said it. "Were you a virgin?" the question froze her and she blushed before looking away. "You were, weren't you?" Kenshin sounded disappointed. He sighed. "I suppose I am more to blame than Sano, that I am." Rubbing his face, he turned to her again. "Look, Miss Kaoru, I'm sorry I did this to you." He truly looked it, but Kaoru felt that she had more of a reason to be sorry.  
  
"YOU'RE sorry? But I'm the one who- I wasn't drunk, and I knew you were engaged, but I did it because I needed the money. . ." she felt like hiding under the bed until he left, but he was frowning now.  
  
"As I said before, a girl like you should not have to sink this low for any reason, that she should not. If it's all right with you, Miss Kaoru, I'd like to take you on as a student." Kaoru's eyes popped out of her head.  
  
"A. . . a student?" she stuttered. "Me? But how would I pay-?"  
  
"More of an apprentice to my style of fighting." He smiled kindly down at her. "I think you would do well as my apprentice." Kaoru's mouth dropped openly as she stared at him.  
  
"What about your fiancé? If you want me to, I'll explain everything to her-" but Kenshin held up his hand.  
  
"You don't have to do that, Miss. I'll call off the wedding and explain everything to her- it'll turn out, you'll see."  
  
*~*~*  
  
you light me up and then I fall for you  
  
you lay me down and then I call for you  
  
stumbling on reasons that are far and few  
  
I'd let it all come down and then some for you  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: As an explanation, I know I used a lot of common "falling in love" clichés here, but I meant to. For effect. Did it work?  
  
And using an "RK" word, this is probably my most ostentatious story yet. It was actually a bit uncomfortable to write. . . I don't think I'll be doing it again soon. Ah well, the setup is good. Next chapter: What about Tomoe?  
  
My reviewers are honest-to-God wonderful.  
  
Iron Mouse- I can't wait to hear from you in the future :D Thanks for reviewing  
  
Inu-chan11- Maybe you got 11 for being the 11th Inu-chan? Ah well. Don't worry about the length, the next chapter is pretty lengthy. Thanks for the review and the feedback! Keep reading ;)  
  
Relena Maxwell- I'm glad you like my idea- believe it or not, I got it from that ABC Family show, "Dance Fever". That won't make sense, but it did, lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, thanks for reviewing. Read on! :D  
  
Clemen- I'm glad you like this story, and thanks for reading. Sure I'll e- mail you when I update, but next time you review, there's an option called "add author to author alert list", and it means whenever I update, you automatically get an e-mail. Easy AND automatic! Thanks for the review.  
  
RK-128- lol, it feels so weird calling you "RK-128". I'm at least tempted to say "rain the scarf kidnapper". Thanks so much for being the bouncer for this story and being so enthusiastic about it, because I was kinda iffy at first. . . but it's definitely fun to write. As of now, I have NO CLUE how Tomoe will leave this pretty picture, but I'm working on possibilities. Man. . . school on Tuesday. Crazy. At least we've got a few classes together, including first hour. Which means we can discuss on the way there ;) Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing. I'm so excited for Liquid Dreams! And. . . now that I think of it. . . all your stories. Damn, woman.  
  
Pensquared- lol, I don't think Sano was really aware how far and deep his plan would go. . . little did he know. Muahaha! Thanks for your kind review, I absolutely love feedback. I can't wait to hear from you in the future! Merci, arigato, and thanks. Heheh.  
  
Rekka's Angel- I wouldn't go as far as to say "wonderful", but the rest should be fun. Thank you!  
  
LiLV13TaNhDaO- thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest.  
  
SilverLightning177- I think seeing Kenshin drunk was half the reason for writing this story, lol. But then again, he's so kawaii no matter what! No, just kidding. I'm glad I offer the K/K fans something unique. . . thanks for reading and reviewing! 


	3. Tomoe

Sweet Mistake  
  
Tomoe  
  
By Seabreeze  
  
A/N: In this chapter, Kenshin tells Tomoe and blames Sanosuke. Drama, no? Thanks to my reviewers :D  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or "Pretty Baby".  
  
*~*~*  
  
Though Kaoru didn't want to impose upon Kenshin's kindness, he insisted she become his apprentice in his fighting style. It meant that automatically, Kaoru got a tiny home with a bedroom and bathroom just on the skirts of Kenshin's property, but she joined him for meals and training. That was the catch- she had to train for hours a day, but it was worth it. Not to be a stripper any longer? Maybe she could even re-build her reputation.  
  
"Isn't it. . . a little. . . odd?" Kaoru asked tentatively. "Taking on your stripper as an apprentice. Your fiancé will not approve, and people will talk." She hated the thought of Kenshin getting a bad reputation because of her. She followed him as he headed towards his car. Kenshin smiled reassuringly back at her.  
  
"Tomoe will understand, that she will. I plan to call off the wedding for a month of repentance." He smiled simply as if this was it, but Kaoru was not satisfied.  
  
"But. . . I'm a stripper-"  
  
"Not any longer."  
  
"Right. But I WAS, and now I move onto your property. I don't want you to catch my bad reputation-"  
  
"Miss Kaoru, people can think what they want. When they get to know you, they'll see that you're just a girl with some bad luck." Kenshin set the carton of soda in the back and went around to the passenger side, opening the door. Kaoru watched him warily.  
  
"I'm not a lady, Sir," she said seriously. Kenshin laughed softly.  
  
"You are now. And call me Kenshin." When Kaoru made no move to get in the car, Kenshin only smiled more gently. "Go on," he prompted. It felt so wrong. Cautiously, Kaoru got in and Kenshin closed the door for her. Jogging around the front of the car, he got in and started the engine. "Seatbelt," he said offhandedly. Kaoru looked at it.  
  
"What for?" she asked.  
  
"For your life." He responded. Kaoru stared at him in fear and quickly buckled up.  
  
"Are we going to your house?" Kaoru asked timidly after a moment. Kenshin smiled but stared at the road ahead.  
  
"I think we're going to pay Sanosuke a visit." The way he said it and the way his eyes flashed amber made Kaoru almost want to shy away from him, but the urge wasn't too strong. She gulped.  
  
"You won't get too angry with him, will you? It's as much my fault as it is his. . ." feeling guilty, Kaoru watched as the road zoomed past. Kenshin shook his head.  
  
"No, I won't. But I will ask him to take some of the responsibility when I explain everything to Tomoe later tonight, that I will."  
  
"If you want, I can take responsibility for your fiancé. . . after all, I did. . . but I will, if that's what you want." Kaoru felt powerless to help him. 'Anything for you.'  
  
"I don't think it's necessary, Miss Kaoru. But if Tomoe takes it roughly, I'll surely take you up on your offer." He grinned sideways at her until she blushed. Kenshin seemed to become serious and focused suddenly.  
  
"Miss Kaoru," he said thoughtfully. "Exactly how old are you?" Kaoru stared intently at her hands.  
  
"I'll be seventeen in July." She responded quietly. Kenshin's eyes went wider than Kaoru thought possible.  
  
"Oro!" he exclaimed. "Miss Kaoru, it's August!" Kaoru cringed.  
  
"I know. . ."  
  
"How long have you been with these girls, Miss Kaoru?"  
  
"Just a year or so." Kaoru felt guiltier than ever.  
  
"Orororororo. . ." Kenshin looked dizzy. "You were only fourteen?"  
  
"Fifteen!" Kaoru shot back hotly. "You can't be all that much older than me, Mr. Fiance. How old are you?" somewhere in her mind, Kaoru was shocked at how comfortable she was with him.  
  
"I'm 26." Kenshin answered. Kaoru stared at him.  
  
"26! You don't look that old!" she said. Kenshin just smiled.  
  
"At least I'm not 30 yet," he joked in his quiet way. Kaoru watched him for a moment in disbelief and then looked away, nearly smiling. No wonder he was so perfect.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Approaching Sano's house, Kaoru felt her stomach twist nervously. This WAS the man who had talked her into seducing Kenshin, after all, and he would no doubt give her grief for it. But, as she and Kenshin approached him in his room, she found she had no reason to be embarrassed. The man, Sano, was asleep on the floor.  
  
Drunk as a skunk.  
  
Kenshin lightly kicked Sano and Kaoru stifled a giggle when he only grunted in response.  
  
"Sanosuke," Kenshin said loudly, kicking him again. "Sanosuke, I've got a bone to pick with you, that I do." At "that I do", he sat up abruptly.  
  
"Kenshin?! What're you doing here?" his face was red and his words slurred, and Kenshin's lips twitched.  
  
"Sano, you tricked poor Miss Kaoru into sleeping with me. I think you owe the both of us- and Tomoe- a rather large explanation." He said, now holding back a grin. Sano sat up slowly, rubbing his head.  
  
"Ah, so you did nail him." Sano directed this at Kaoru, who blushed angrily.  
  
"You-!"  
  
"Calm down, Miss Kaoru. Sanosuke didn't mean any harm. Or not much, anyway." Kenshin laid a passifying palm on her arm and smiled before turning to Sano. "Did you know that Miss Kaoru's only 16, Sano?" his voice became somewhat dangerous, and Kaoru watched his eyes flash gold again. Sano gaped in shock at her.  
  
"Miss KAORU?" he said. Then, as if he had just realized it, "SIXTEEN?!?!?!?!?!?!?" if he had been on a mattress, he would've fallen off. "Kuso! How the hell'd a little girl become a stripper?!? I assumed they were all of age. . .!"  
  
"Little girl???" Kaoru demanded, her face burning in anger. "I'll SHOW you little girl-" but once again, Kenshin stopped her. His arm was out, holding her back, and she stopped shyly. Kenshin sighed.  
  
"Is it possible for you to say two words without making a woman angry?" he asked. Sano grinned.  
  
"I doubt it." He said. Kenshin couldn't help but smile.  
  
"I need you to take Miss Kaoru to my house and set her up in the apprentice shack." Kenshin said, and Sano did a suggestive double-eyebrow raise. Kenshin ignored it and went on. "I'm taking her on as my newest apprentice. After she's comfortable, I want you to meet me at Tomoe's for an explanation."  
  
"Kuso, you're not serious. . .?"  
  
"That I am." Kenshin nodded. Sano scowled and slammed his fist into the ground.  
  
"Fine. I'll see you there." He nodded at Kenshin, then turned to Kaoru. "You," he said. "Come with me." Kaoru turned to Kenshin, who smiled and nodded. She did as Sano had said.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Kenshin knocked gingerly on the door to his fiance's house.  
  
"Tomoe?" he called. "Are you home?" The door opened to a pleasant face and silky black hair.  
  
"Kenshin," her soft voice was full of surprise and happiness. "Isn't this a nice surprise. Did you need to talk to me about something?" She opened the door to let him and his friend in. "Good afternoon, Sano." She added. Sano nodded in response. Once she had closed the door behind them, Kenshin began.  
  
"I do in fact have something very important to talk to you about." He said, feeling guilty. "Last night-"  
  
"It was my fault, Miss Tomoe." Sano interjected. Tomoe felt the blood drain from her face in fear.  
  
"What happened?" she asked hollowly. Sano and Kenshin exchanged looks. Sano swallowed and began.  
  
"You see, last night was the bachelor party for Kenshin, and naturally, I thought that a bachelor party isn't a bachelor party without strippers. . ." Sano stared at the ground as the color returned to Tomoe's face. 'She's going to be angry, that she is.' Kenshin thought, cringing. Sano continued.  
  
"And I figured Kenshin should have some fun, so we got him pretty drunk. You know it only takes one glass of sake to trash him, but we tricked him into seven or eight."  
  
"I see." Tomoe's voice was ice cold. She definitely knew where this was going. Kenshin took over so Sano could recover.  
  
"Sano thought it would be a good idea to get a stripper especially for me, and he did. I tried to resist her, but with that much alcohol in my veins. . ."  
  
"I told her I'd pay her extra if she slept with him." Sano cut in. Tomoe raised her eyebrows at them and waited for someone to continue.  
  
"The girl agreed, and she seduced me." Kenshin's face was red, but his voice was sturdy. Tomoe felt angry, but at the same time she loved how easily he took the burden of telling the truth. "I'm willing to call of the wedding for a month or two of repentance and purity." Kenshin said. Tomoe swallowed and nodded.  
  
"Of course. Maybe more."  
  
"But Miss Tomoe, it's really all my fault, and the stripper girl's, too, but she's only sixteen, so. . . it's basically my fault." Sano didn't want Kenshin to get punished for what was really his own fault. Tomoe glared at him.  
  
"Oh, don't misread me, Sanosuke. I know all too well whose fault this is. Kenshin will go through at least three months of repentance and purity until we both feel it is like it never happened anyway, though. You, if you know what's good for you, will watch out for me in the future. And as for the stripper girl- I don't blame her. No one of that age can truly do anything and take responsibility. Kenshin, I hope you pitied her somehow." Tomoe's voice held authority that neither man felt like denying. Kenshin nodded.  
  
"Of course. I took her on as my apprentice so hopefully she will get a fresh start." He said. Tomoe nodded, as if this suited her.  
  
"The wedding is off, then, until I see you again in three months. Then plans will resume." After a moment, her exterior softened and she kissed him. "Aishiteru." Kenshin smiled. He loved her soft side.  
  
"Aishiteru." He responded. Tomoe smiled and escorted them to the door again.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: Hmmm, no Tomoe for AT LEAST three months. . . *evil rubbing hands together * This should be QUITE interesting.  
  
I'd like to apologize for the long wait on all my stories, but school has started up and RK-128 and I go to a rather vigorous prep school. @_@ Things get a little busy, especially with all our hobbies.  
  
Inu-chan11- haha, I love long reviews. I hope you remember this fic, with all the time I took to update. * cringe *  
  
Rekka's Angel- yeah, I'm starting to suspect that I have slight dyslexia. Which turns to severe dyslexia when I sit down to do math.. Ahh. Anyway. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
LiLV13TaNhDaO- thanks for reviewing, and I'll check out your story as soon as I possibly can. Thanks ^_^  
  
Lil-miss-kitsune- eheh. it's a little too late for "soon:", but I hope you keep reading. Thanks.  
  
Clemen- yeah, I sort of made up my own tradition there with the "calling off the wedding" thing. Arigato.  
  
Pensquared- no, Kenshin was not a virgin. I'm not going to expand, because it's not really important, but he's not. Thanks for reading ^_^  
  
Marstanuki- why thank you! Will do.  
  
SilverLightning177- I'm glad you like. Please keep reading. Arigato!  
  
TenkunoMeiou- thanks! Keep readin' ^_^  
  
Lilkitten1- Kaoru's a stripper only for the sake of the story. Haha, sake. Sorry. Anyway. Before this story started, Kaoru's father died (as he did before the series), and she didn't have anywhere to go so s woman started taking care of her and eventually put her in "the biz". Thanks ^_^  
  
Relena Maxwell- thank you! That's so sweet! The only problem with that, though, is that as a writer, I'm not really one for length. But that's so nice of you to say! ^_^ 


	4. New

Sweet Mistake  
  
New  
  
By Seabreeze  
  
A/N: I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry I haven't updated till now. . . no excuses, gomen.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or "Pretty Baby".  
  
*~*~*  
  
Since Kaoru really had no personal belongings, getting settled into the tiny shack wasn't difficult at all. Sanosuke laughed at her, because she owned nothing. Kaoru had glared at him.  
  
"You don't know anything about what it's like to be a stripper." She snapped. This had only made Sano laugh harder.  
  
"No, I don't!" he chortled, and Kaoru fumed before throwing the nearest pillow at him.  
  
"It's NOT funny, you Rooster-headed JERK!" she crossed her arms and glared at him furiously. Sano laughed again.  
  
"Calm down, Jou-chan. I won't make fun of your former occupation any more if you don't want me to." Sano put his hands in his pockets and looked at her sideways. "I noticed you told Kenshin your real name. Strippers don't usually do that, now do they?" he said slyly. Kaoru glared at him again.  
  
"You seem to know strippers a little too well, Sanosuke. And I told him after he told me I'd never be a stripper again." She shot back before sitting on her bed. This Sano person really got on her nerves.  
  
"Right," Sano said, as if he didn't believe her. "I'm going to go help Kenshin now. See you around, Jou-chan." With that, he stalked out of the room. Kaoru stared after him. What had he meant?  
  
"Baka," she muttered under her breath. What'd a drunken man know, anyway? But he WAS Kenshin's friend. Kaoru sighed as she heard Sano's car start up and pull away. What did she have to do now? She guessed she could look around her new (tiny) home, and after that. . . maybe look around the property.  
  
Her room was simple; wooden floors and walls and ceiling, a small bed, bedside table, and dresser. She went to investigate the dresser- empty. She crinkled her nose. She didn't really have any clothes of her own- the dresser was a waste on her. She closed the doors and sat on the bed again. It was only a twin, with white sheets, a white pillow, and a deep blue cover. It looked comfortable enough. Now for the bathroom.  
  
Which in itself also wasn't all that ornate. Wooden walls, floor, and ceiling; a single toilet with toilet paper in a basket near it on the floor; a simple sink with a mirror placed on the wood. The shower was only separated from the rest of the bathroom with a deep blue curtain, with the shower head and handles coming right out from the wood. It all seemed somehow spa-like. Without luxuries, of course, but still serene and relaxing. Kaoru stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door carefully behind her. She sighed and flopped down on the bed once more.  
  
She really had nothing to do. Kaoru curled up and, having nothing better to do, fell asleep.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Kenshin finally returned from speaking with Tomoe, he decided to check on his new apprentice. He found her curled up into an impossibly tiny ball on her bed, on top of the covers and shivering slightly. He couldn't help but smile a little bit. She was so cute. He went to the dresser, and, opening the bottom most drawer, pulled out a spare blanket. He shook it open and draped it over her tiny sleeping form- tiny to him, and to most HE was considered small. Stepping back, he observed her.  
  
It was really too bad she was asleep, because he was planning on taking her into Tokyo to buy her some new clothes. Not only because the ones she had now were a bit. . . distasteful, but because they were ill- suited for learning any sort of battle. And, obviously, he would be teaching her the Kamiya Kasshin style. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, for one thing, was used to kill.  
  
And he wouldn't do anything else to stain this innocent girl. Nothing he hadn't already done.  
  
Disgusted with himself, Kenshin quickly wrote a note to Kaoru saying that if she needed him, he'd be in his home. He flipped the light switch off and checked on the girl one last time. Closing the door behind him, he headed off towards his home. Only 3 o clock, and the day had been so long already.  
  
"I guess its time for some house chores, that it is."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Kaoru woke with that odd feeling a person gets when they wake up from a middle-of-the-day nap. A small clock on her bedside table read 5:08. Cursing under her breath, Kaoru flung the blanket off herself (when did she put a blanket over herself?) and hurried out her front door. Looking around her surroundings briefly, Kaoru noticed the small dojo a hundred or so yards to her left. The area directly in front of the house had been walked about so much that there was hardly any grass. Kenshin knelt in the middle of it with a wooden tub full of soapy water and clothes. She hurried over to him.  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
"Oro!" Kenshin fell over, obviously not expecting her. Once he recovered, he grinned up at her. "Good Afternoon, Miss Kaoru. I'm glad to see you're awake, and just in time to go get you some new clothes! Does that sound all right to you?"  
  
"New clothes?" Kaoru looked down on what she wore (an ultra-short mini skirt and cropped halter top) dumbfounded. "Why do I need new clothes?"  
  
"You can't train so easily in garments such as those, that you can't." Kenshin said cheerfully. He smiled at her again. "Just let me get changed, and I'll take you into Tokyo and buy you some proper clothes."  
  
"Tokyo. . . but, Kenshin," Kaoru began self-consciously. "You don't have to buy me new clothes."  
  
"I do if I want you to be my apprentice, which I do. Hold on, I'll be right back." Kenshin turned and headed into his dojo, returning only a few moments later with nearly the same clothing as he had had on before: baggy pants and a nice shirt. He stopped before her and grinned.  
  
"All right, I'm ready. After you, Miss Kaoru."  
  
"Please don't treat me like a lady, Kenshin, I'm not used to it-"  
  
"This is the only way you ever will, then, isn't it?" Kaoru stared disbelievingly as he smiled genuinely at her. She had never met a person like him in her entire life. Feeling stupider than ever, she began walking towards his car. He walked next to, and slightly behind, her until he had escorted her to the passenger side. He opened the door as she got in and closed it behind her.  
  
Tokyo, it turned out, was not far at all from Kenshin's house- in fact, they probably could've walked there. Kenshin made a mental note that the next time they needed to go to Tokyo, to walk- it was good exercise and good for the environment, after all.  
  
"I'm sure you know part of Tokyo quite well, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said, "but the place we're going will be totally new to you. I myself am still not used to it."  
  
"Not to be rude, Kenshin, but. . . what kind of clothing will you be buying me?"  
  
"Well Miss Kaoru, first you'll need clothes for training. Just something comfortable. And then casual clothes you can wear for outings like this, and if I have anything leftover, I thought we could get you a nice kimono for special occasions. How does that sound to you?"  
  
". . . Kenshin. . . I don't want you spending that much money on me. . ." Kaoru twisted her hands together nervously. "I'm not used to taking things like that without repayment."  
  
"If it will make you more comfortable, I can let you cook and do work around the house for repayment," Kenshin said. "It's not necessary, though." Kaoru thought on it for a minute.  
  
"Yes! That sounds great! I'll cook and scrub the floors and sweep the porch everyday." Kaoru smiled and sunk against the back of her seat, relieved.  
  
"Alright then, Miss Kaoru, we have a deal." Kenshin smiled. Kaoru was really not so complex, and despite her former occupation, gave the impression of being naïve.  
  
When the arrived in town, Kenshin seemed to know exactly where he was going. Kaoru watched him as he read the street signs, making a right here and a left there, and going straight. Finally, they parked in front of a small strip of stores. From left to right, there was a small café, a commercial music store, a plant store, a yoga clothing shop, and a plumber's. Kenshin lead her into the yoga clothing shop (Helga's). Kaoru couldn't help but give him an odd look.  
  
"Kenshin. . . a yoga shop?" she inquired. Kenshin shrugged.  
  
"I've never tried yoga myself, but they have the best clothes for what we need, that they do." He held the door open and waited as Kaoru awkwardly rushed past him and waited until he caught up to her. "Now," he said, looking around. "You pick out some things you like and I'll do the same. What size are you?" Kenshin watched as Kaoru's face reddened a little.  
  
"I'm. . . I wear a 2 or 3. . . depending." She seemed to get angry when she continued: "and you'd better remember that, Kenshin, because I'm never telling you my size again!" Kaoru stormed off towards a wrack of yoga pants, and Kenshin oro'd to the floor as a sale's associate stepped over him.  
  
"Never had too many girlfriends, did you?" he asked cockily. Kenshin stood quickly.  
  
"Oh, she's not my girlfriend. Miss Kaoru's my apprentice." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You see, I'm going to train her in my fighting style from now on, and she needs the proper clothing. . ." but the salesman had stopped listening at "not my girlfriend".  
  
"Not your girlfriend, huh?" he asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The salesman turned to watch Kaoru sift through a wrack of tops, several pairs of pants in arm. "She's quite pretty, you know, and I haven't had a girl myself in quite a while. . . how old is she?" He was waiting for Kenshin to answer with interest, and Kenshin looked over him constructively.  
  
"From the looks of it, too young for you, Sir. Miss Kaoru's only sixteen, and I don't think now's the best time for her to be involved with any men." Though Kenshin was shorter than the salesman by a good 6 inches, his voice took an authority the young man could not deny. A change in his eyes, however undetectable, told the salesman to back off.  
  
"Well. . . alright. You're her sensei. I'm just warning you, though, that girl's going to have men all over her if you let her out alone." He left Kenshin with that thought before heading behind the counter to sulk and fold things. Kenshin watched him with a frown, and then went over to see how Kaoru was doing.  
  
"Miss Kaoru," he said, taking about 30 pounds of yoga clothes off of her, "I think you've got enough to start trying on." Kaoru blushed and nodded obediently, heading to one of the curtained changing rooms.  
  
*~*~*  
  
As Kenshin and Kaoru walked down another street to find the grocer's where Kenshin always bought the environment-friendly detergent, they passed a small dance studio. Kenshin passed without second thought, but Kaoru slowed to a stop, enchanted by the graceful movements within the windows. In one window, a girl not much older than Kaoru kindly helped little girls position their arms. In the window next to it, however, girls her own age danced with perfect balance and flexibility on the tips of their toes. Kaoru clutched the shopping bag full of clothes tightly to her chest and sucked in her breath quickly. Kenshin kept walking until he realized Kaoru was no longer nearby him, when he sweat-dropped and backtracked to his star- struck apprentice.  
  
"Miss Kaoru?" he asked, feeling he might need to poke her to get her attention. Kaoru opened her mouth but didn't take her eyes off the window.  
  
". . .yes?" she said.  
  
"You all right?" he inquired, getting a bit worried.  
  
"It's so beautiful," Kaoru answered from far away. "The dancing. I've always wanted to dance." Kenshin smiled in understanding.  
  
"It is, Miss Kaoru. But for now we must focus on your training, that we must." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder to pressure her slightly forward.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When they arrived at Kenshin's property around seven, Kaoru seemed a bit tired.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kenshin," she apologized, resting her eyes briefly as she leaned against his car. "I don't know why I've been so tired lately. I guess the city just does that to me."  
  
"You've had a big day, that you have. Don't you worry about it. Take another nap, and I'll come get you when our dinner is ready." Kenshin gave her a rurouni smile and pushed her gently towards her door. She was really too tired to resist, but any other day she would've insisted upon working off some of her imaginary debt. Once Kaoru's door had closed behind her, Kenshin smiled once more and headed to his house to begin cooking. It was an odd hobby for a man like Kenshin, at least those who once knew him would find it surprising. But he enjoyed it nonetheless; it was almost soothing.  
  
Thirty minutes later, the soup and bread Kenshin had prepared were nearly ready. He made sure there were two places set to eat, and headed out to Kaoru's cottage. When he knocked on her door, he heard from within a surprised noise and a crash. Concerned, he opened the door quickly and peeked his head in.  
  
"Miss Kaoru?" he inquired, looking around. "Everything all right in there?" From behind the other side of the bed, Kaoru's head popped up, smiling and blushing.  
  
"Hai, I'm fine, Kenshin. Just trying to put something on top of the dresser." Kenshin looked a little confused, but merely nodded.  
  
"Are you ready for dinner, then, Miss Kaoru?"  
  
"Already? You're quick!" Kaoru stood, wearing a small white t-shirt, bright blue sweatskirt, and blue zip-up sweatshirt. She brushed off her skirt, proudly re-tied her matching blue tennis shoes, and met him at the door. Smiling genuinely, Kaoru followed Kenshin over to his house.  
  
They ate together happily, nearly silent in their and glad to finally have some company.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Once again, sorry I took so long to update. I'll use Christmas Break  
wisely, that I will.  
  
Thank You's:  
  
Inu-chan11- I'm excited for what's going to happen with these two in the future (it's out of my hands and entirely up to them, isn't that great?!?!) and also other characters. Thanks so much for reading. I hope the rest of this story pleases you.  
  
Friend of Inuyasha+Kagome- heh. Don't worry. I know how you feel about Tomoe. I'm very much rooting for Kenshin and Kaoru too. Thanks for reading.  
  
PEACH ^_^- . . . you read fanfiction with you family?  
  
Rekka's Angel- you don't know how much the understanding is appreciated. Thanks so much for reading and leaving such kind feedback.  
  
Pensquared- my gosh, you people are as vindictive about Tomoe as I am! Don't get me wrong, it ain't a bad thing. Thanks for reading.  
  
Relena Maxwell- sorry 'bout the time- I hope you enjoy this chapter (if you even remember this story, I took so long to get it out! Sheesh, self!) This one took a while because I only had a general idea of what would happen, but the next one should come pretty quickly when I DO get around to it, because I know EXACTLY what's going to happen. Will be fun.  
  
Celesta1- I love reviewers like you so much! It may be the best you've ever read, but I assure you there are some mind-blowing ones out there. Chiki, RK-128, and spiralbluefish (I think?) are some reeeeaally good ones.  
  
TenkunoMeiou- Slowly but surely, de gozaru. Thanks for reading and dropping a line ^_^  
  
Anime-girl153- nah, haven't given up yet. Got way too much planned for this one. I hope you continue to read, and thanks!  
  
Snow White Hyatt- sorry about the timing, as usual. I don't quite hate Tomoe, but I definitely prefer Kaoru.  
  
Gaby hyatt- thanks. . . and I'm STILL sorry about taking so long. . .  
  
Firiel11- don't ask me how I came up with it. I was watching somebody jazz dance, the song was something about not being able to get this one girl's love. . . eh, don't ask. Thanks for reviewing! Cool name, by the way.  
  
SweetCherries- thanks. . . it is pretty well planned. I hope you liked this chapter. 


	5. Breathe

Sweet Mistake  
  
Breathe  
  
By Seabreeze  
  
A/N: Holy FREAKIN' cow! I haven't updated since BEFORE Christmas! This is so weird, I always feel like this story is one of my new babies! Its not new anymore. . . believe it or not, I had chapters 5 and 6 written and saved on my computer but then my dad killed it, so I lost them both, and I have forgotten what I wrote so I have to come up with completely new stuff on my new computer. Anyways. Enjoy reading, and please excuse the long wait.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or "Pretty Baby".

  
  
"5 more sets. Good job, Miss Kaoru, you're doing well." Kenshin surveyed his one and only student, arms crossed, a smile of approval on his face. Despite being her very first practice ever, Kaoru was determined. He knew she had tired over half an hour ago, but she was still going. She had perseverance. And potential.  
  
Kaoru, on the other hand, had no room for thoughts. Her arm and back muscles burned from the repetition of strikes, so much so that it felt her bones had turned to liquid. Her stomach muscles ached from the sit-ups and crunches he'd had her do, and her lungs were continuously constricting. Sweat rolled down her face and made her skin slick. Because her breathing had become more labored, less oxygen was getting to her brain and she couldn't think.  
  
However, she was going to finish the last sets he gave her if it killed her.  
  
'Keep. . . going. Keep. . . going. Keep. . .' she thought. Distantly, she heard Kenshin saying something. She clenched her eyes shut to concentrate on his voice.  
  
". . .you're almost there, Miss Kaoru, one set left. . ." at that, her eyes snapped open and she began striking hard as ever. Only ten more! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1!  
  
Kaoru finally gave into her knees and let herself hit the ground with a thud. She folded her legs , held the bokken on her lap, and let her head drop heavily. Air. Air! She sucked it in heavily, quickly. Faster. Again. She kept going until she realized there had been a slight weight on her shoulder, and someone was kneeled in front of her. His mouth was moving.  
  
"Miss Kaoru?" his lips said. "Can you hear me?" No. Just the lips moving. She shook her head no, and Kenshin knew instantly that he had overworked her. She was hyperventilating. Kenshin took her by the shoulders and shook her gently, to interrupt her breathing pattern. She looked up at him, eyes panicked. Why had he stopped her from breathing? She'd never get enough air. Her ears roared and she swayed, keeping her eyes focused on his mouth.  
  
She couldn't hear him, so Kenshin would just have to show her the right way to breathe right now. Very obviously, he took in a long, deep breath. Kaoru, catching on, followed. When she tried to exhale quickly, he shook his head and made her hold it for a second before releasing slowly. After a minute or so of this, Kaoru was nearly back to normal. She could hear and see perfectly, and the only evidence that nearly a minute ago she felt like she would die was the sweat on her forehead.  
  
She looked up again to see a very concerned Kenshin staring at her, for any sign of injury. Kaoru lowered her head in shame.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kenshin, but maybe I'm just not cut out for the Kamiya Kasshin style. I'm not very strong."  
  
"No, Miss Kaoru, that's not it at all. I worked you too hard, that I did." Kenshin was, once again, absolutely disgusted with himself. "I shouldn't have expected that caliber a workout from a beginner. Can you stand?" Kaoru nodded and began to, but Kenshin grabbed her elbow in a strong grip to help her up. "Would you like to lie down?" he asked. Kaoru shook her head.  
  
"No, that's not necessary. I'm fine." She smiled to reassure him, and he returned it doubtfully. He knew he had made- yet another- huge mistake, and nearly hated himself for it.  
  
"You're probably beginning to question whether coming here was a good idea," he joked, but there was little humor behind his words. Kaoru looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Not at all." She said, confused. "Why would I? This is my first. . ." she blushed, and swallowed. "This is my first real home. Why would I ever question coming here?" Kenshin watched her for a moment, and let himself smile a little.  
  
"Things will get better, I promise. And next time tell me if it gets that bad, all right?"

  
  
Kenshin gave Kaoru the rest of the day off, insisting she not perform her chores until tomorrow, at least. He had sent her to rest in her house, leaving him to his chores and his thoughts. He had severely overestimated Kaoru's physical abilities. She had looked incredibly fit, but obviously it wasn't the "fit" Kenshin was used to. She most definitely had potential and the ability to become better, but he'd have to build up her strength and endurance. While he could play some part in that, there needed to be something else to help him help her. . . and luckily, she had given him the answer a day before he had asked the question.

  
  
Kaoru slept the rest of her second day at Kenshin's, and begun the third in a fury to complete all her chores. She acted annoyed with Kenshin for letting her sleep, but was actually grateful. It seemed all she had needed was a long, long nap to regain her energy. She began with scrubbing the floors, because to her eyes they looked as if they hadn't been cleaned for several months. She spent the morning running the rags back and forth along his wooden floors, with him trying in vain to stay out of her way. Next she helped him with the laundry, or, more accurately, learned how to do the laundry. As an exotic dancer, her clothes had always been washed, dry cleaned, and folded for her.  
  
"I forgot to tell you, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin began amicably as he handed her some folded shirts. "Tonight we're having my neighbors, Dr. Gensai, Ayame, and Suzume, over for dinner." He smiled, but Kaoru panicked.  
  
"Neighbors?! But Kenshin, do they know about me? I'm not a lady! What will they think? What if they-"but Kenshin covered her mouth with his hand.  
  
"I told you, Miss Kaoru, I don't care what people think. Besides, Dr. Gensai and his daughters are not ones to judge. Ayame and Suzume will love you, this one is sure of it." He removed his hand slowly, but her wide blue eyes were still doubtful. Kenshin sighed. "I know you do not believe it, but you will just have to trust me. Ok?"  
  
Kenshin had locked his violet eyes on Kaoru's own blue ones, and she had no choice but to give her assent. She nodded wordlessly. Kenshin smiled.  
  
"Good. Once we have finished, would you like to help this one prepare dinner?" he asked. Kaoru nodded hastily.  
  
"I still have yesterday AND today's chores to work off!" she exclaimed. Kenshin chuckled, shaking his head.  
  
"This one's not counting." He reminded her. Kaoru glared at him.  
  
"Well, I am. Now let's finish this laundry so we can make an acceptable dinner for your neighbors!" with that, Kaoru gathered the clean, folded laundry and hurried to put it all away. Kenshin smiled and stood to begin preparing the dinner.

  
  
By the time 7 o'clock had rolled around, Kenshin and Kaoru had a warm dinner prepared and laid out on his table. Kenshin had changed into clean clothes and Kaoru had struggled into the light yellow kimono Kenshin had bought her just the other day. In the end, she had been forced to ask Kenshin for help with the obi, and he had complied (though Kaoru blushed furiously).  
  
At 7:03, they were completely ready. Dr. Gensai and his granddaughters arrived minutes later. Kenshin and Kaoru greeted them at the door, and led them into the dining room. Kaoru had not expected Ayame and Suzume to be so young, but Kenshin's hunch on them had been correct. They immediately clung to Kaoru and fought over who would sit next to her at dinner. Kaoru giggled and hoisted the smaller of the two onto her hip while she held the elder's hand. She led them in behind Dr. Gensai –Kenshin, as always, walked behind her- and sat each girl on either side of her grandfather.  
  
"I hear you are Kenshin's assistant, Miss Kaoru." Dr. Gensai said politely as they began eating their rice. Kaoru nodded.  
  
"Yes, Kenshin is teaching me the Kamiya Kasshin style. I started training yesterday." Kaoru smiled proudly, looking to her sensei for approval. Kenshin nodded.  
  
"Miss Kaoru's doing very well. She's already impressed me with only one session, that she has." Kenshin said. Dr. Gensai grinned, missing teeth making him seem as young as his granddaughters.  
  
"You've found someone to carry on the Kamiya Kasshin style, have you, Kenshin?" he chortled. Kaoru grinned appreciatively.  
  
"I want to learn the Kamya Kashin style, too!" Suzume exclaimed. Ayame quickly chimed in.  
  
"Me too, me too! Kamya!" The three adults laughed out loud.  
  
"Maybe when you're a bit older," Dr. Gensai promised, and both girls turned huge eyes to Kaoru.  
  
"Will YOU teach us, Lady Kaoru?" Suzume asked. Kaoru blushed at the honorific way her name was used, and glanced at Kenshin.  
  
"Oh, no! I'm just barely getting my start from Kenshin! If anybody, he'll be the one to teach you."  
  
When Dr. Gensai, Ayame, and Suzume had left, Kaoru felt as if she had made three new friends. Ayame and Suzume idolized her immediately, so before they left she played a very small game of catch with them in the yard while Kenshin and Dr. Gensai were left to talk.  
  
"She's your new assistant, is she?" Dr. Gensai asked, giving Kenshin a look that was hard to understand. Kenshin nodded slowly.  
  
"Yes. She lives in the cottage at the edge of my property."  
  
"Ah. Where did you find a beautiful young student like her?" Dr. Gensai asked, and Kenshin shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Miss Kaoru was an exotic dancer, and I decided she was too young to be living that life. I brought her here." Dr. Gensai's eyebrows rose as this information was uncovered.  
  
"Exotic dancer? How'd you manage to meet one of those?" Dr. Gensai asked suggestively. Kenshin felt a part of himself grow very angry at the slight insinuations Dr. Gensai was making, but shrugged them off.  
  
"Sano brought them to my bachelor party." He said flatly. "But that is a life that Miss Kaoru no longer associates with. From now on, she is my student and assistant- that is all. I want no one gossiping about her, because there is no longer anything to gossip about."  
  
To his surprise, Gensai cackled.  
  
"Of course. Good luck training her, Kenshin. My granddaughters have sure attached themselves to her, so we will probably stop by more often now." He grinned as they turned to see Kaoru tossing a low ball to Ayame.  
  
"Good catch, Ayame-chan!" she called encouragingly.  
  
"Come on, Ayame, Suzume!" Gensai called. He turned to Kenshin. "We'll see the two of you around."

  
  
A/N: Ok, I realized something on my long break from this story. Tomoe is completely out of character. Sadly, I like her MUCH better in my story than in reality. Can I rant? She's a WIMP! WIMP WIMP WIMP!!!!!! I cannot STAND her. So, poll: do I keep her like I already have her, or change her to the way the real Tomoe is (was?).  
  
Ooh, one more thing. In both Sweet Mistake and Xtreme Dating Challenge (another of my Kenshin/Kaoru fics) Kaoru is out of character. However, they're both AU so Kaoru was raised differently. Don't worry, though, she'll become herself eventually in both. And now that I think about it, Kenshin too. In XDC, he's kinda grumpy. Heh. I still love him.   
  
Thanks:  
  
SweetCherries- aw! Thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest.  
  
Princess Steffy- Happy summer! Oh boy, am I late. Guiiiilt!  
  
PEACH - I can't say I think she's a btch, but she's such a WIMP (as seen above.) I swear, I try to watch the Oav's and end up like convulsing in annoyance.  
  
Koishii Sweet- Uh. . . soon enough? I highly doubt it. . . sorry!!!!!  
  
Friend of InuyashaKagome- Tomoe's at home. Waiting for Kenshin to purify himself. Knitting. Just kidding, at least about the knitting part.  
  
Anime-Master7- Maybe. Or she might just be really tired ;)  
  
Celesta1- LOL I'm so glad you like my story. I'm big on happy endings and all. I haven't quite decided how to get Kenshin and Kaoru together, but I have many, many options. Its going to be good, I promise you. And it WILL happen.  
  
RK-128- Funny how a one-time inside joke is no longer funny. LOL, that was really mean of me. Sorry! Thanks for reading my story (and liking it, to boot!) Its good to have a bouncerbuddie. You have no clue how excited I am for Liquid Dreams. Ooh! And Dancing, Kendo, and Everything in Between! Ah! Excitement! She thinks my ears are fuzz-y!


	6. Shakin'

Sweet Mistake  
  
Shakin'  
  
Seabreeze

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A/N: 6 reviews on the first day! That's exciting. Thanks very much, everyone.

- - - - -  
  
Disclaimer: I never owned him before, but today I own Rurouni Kenshin.

- - - - -  
  
Disclaimer: Oh, come on, just kidding.

- - - - -

Kaoru dimly heard her door open and someone step inside, but whether they were dangerous or not, she didn't care. She was still asleep. As long as they didn't disturb her, she wouldn't attack.  
  
Fortunately, her visitor was friendly. Unfortunately, he was there to wake up her.  
  
"Miss Kaoru?" the calm voice inquired. Kaoru scowled and tore the blankets further over her head, grumbling. The voice paused, then persisted. "Miss Kaoru? I have something to tell you."  
  
"Could it wait until I'm actually awake????" Kaoru snarled. Kenshin leaned back slightly, surprise lighting up his violet eyes. She was a nice enough girl during the day, but try to wake her up from her sleep, and she'd take a large bite out of you.  
  
"I think its something you'll be glad to hear, that I do." Kenshin replied. Kaoru groaned aloud. WHY oh why did he have to be so kind? She threw the blankets off her head and sat up.  
  
"What is it?" she asked groggily. Kenshin smiled, glad to have her attention.  
  
"Your first session as my student taught me two important things. I learned that you have an enormous amount of talent, and I learned that you do not yet have enough strength or endurance to perform at your best. I thought to myself that I must build up those assets that you lack, but I know that attempting this on my own would take time."  
  
Kaoru yawned and ran fingers through tangled, coal black hair.   
  
"So I have decided to sign you up for dance classes at the studio in Tokyo." Kenshin beamed upon giving this information, and Kaoru froze, fingers partially through her hair. Her sleepy eyes widened and she stared at her teacher. Kenshin sat at the foot of her bed, still smiling.   
  
"Kenshin. . . you mean. . .?" she breathed in a question. Kenshin chuckled.  
  
"Yes, Miss Kaoru. You're signed up for ballet classes. Your first class is this afternoon, at 5:30." Kaoru could only stare at her beloved teacher in shock for several moments. Kenshin took this opportunity of silence to continue. "I called the owner of the studio, and asked him if he thought that dance would increase strength and endurance. He said not only that, but it would increase flexibility and concentration. He also said it was no problem that a girl your age is just beginning dance; you're in beginning teen ballet." Kenshin beamed again. Kaoru stared at him for a few moments more before throwing her arms around his neck in a massive hug. Surprised, Kenshin froze, before awkwardly patting her back. Kaoru's thank you's bubbled out of her lips so quickly that Kenshin missed 80% of what she said, and it wasn't until a few moments later did Kaoru realize the entire situation was awkward. She and Kenshin. . . on her bed. . . hugging intimately. This would not do.   
  
Hastily, Kaoru pulled back, blushing.  
  
"Gomen nasai," she said sheepishly, nimble fingers braiding her long hair over her right shoulder nervously. "I just. . . dance? Really, Kenshin? How will I ever repay you? My debt grows each day!" Kenshin held up a hand to stop her.  
  
"As your sensei, it is my duty to do whatever I can to make you the best student you can be. Dance has many advantages. If it will bring you closer to the best Kamiya Kasshin student, then it is within my job description."  
  
"Except for the fact that I don't pay you," Kaoru countered. "And I live on your property and eat your food and wear clothes you bought me and-" Kenshin's palm covered her mouth to stem the words.  
  
"And you work off your debt daily by doing chores." He removed his palm.  
  
"Isn't that sort of like slavery?" Kaoru demanded, guilt once again consuming her. To her surprise, Kenshin laughed.  
  
"Its not slavery, as you are not required to work and can leave whenever you wish." He replied. "As I have said before, Miss Kaoru, you owe me nothing. If you feel you must work off debt, then I will allow you to. Can this be our last discussion of it? We seem to talk ourselves in circles, that we do." He smiled gently, and Kaoru swallowed.  
  
"Oh, Kenshin, I feel like I'm leeching off of you. . ."  
  
"I finally have someone to pass the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu on to. That is a greater gift than you can understand."  
  
". . .alright, we won't talk about this anymore. But I'm going to do my chores everyday, and when I get a job, I'm going to give you part of my paycheck!" Kaoru insisted.   
  
"If that is what you want."  
  
"It is." Kaoru said firmly, crossing her arms. Kenshin smiled.  
  
"All right, then. Now get ready, Miss Kaoru, we've got some training to do after breakfast."

- - - - -

At 4:45, Kenshin stopped Kaoru from doing the laundry and told her it was time to go.  
  
"Already?" Kaoru asked nervously, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Kenshi nodded.  
  
"We have to get you some dance clothes. Your dance teacher said she'd help you."  
  
"Oh," Kaoru said. She stood slowly, brushing the dirt off her pants. She raised her face to look at Kenshin, completely apprehensive.   
  
"Come on, Miss Kaoru, there's nothing to be nervous about." Kenshin smiled that irresistible smile once again, and Kaoru had no choice but to follow him to his car.

- - - - -  
  
When they arrived at the studio Kaoru had seen the other day, she noticed a tiny dance shop to its right. Kenshin parked in front of it (the parking lot was virtually empty), and looked at Kaoru after turning off the ignition. She was nervously biting her bottom lip and- there was no way he could deny it- she looked irresistibly cute. He let his long red bangs cover the expression on his face and got out of the car.   
  
'It is not good for sessha to think in such a way, that it is not,' he scolded himself. Kaoru met him in front of his car and smiled distractedly. Kenshin motioned for her to go ahead of him into the shop, and he followed. Once inside, they were both greeted by a small, skinny woman with dyed-blonde hair. Her eyes were huge and expressive and very, very excited for a woman of her age.  
  
"You must be Kaoru and Kenshin!" she exclaimed, reaching out an older hand for them to shake. Kenshin reached over Kaoru's shoulder to shake the woman's hand, as Kaoru had reacted by only staring.   
  
"Yes," Kaoru said, shaking herself out of her surprise. She held out her hand and shook the woman's. "Will you be teaching me?"  
  
"Yes! You may call me Miss Gina,"   
  
"Nice to meet you, Miss Gina," Kaoru replied politely. Kenshin nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yes, we're very glad you're taking her on." He said. Miss Gina turned her attention to Kenshin, eyes wide.  
  
"And what relationship do you have with Miss Kaoru? On the phone I figured you were her brother, but there's no way you two are related. Are you her boyfriend?"  
  
Kaoru immediately blushed and choked, eyes watering as she tried to portray without words that it wasn't true. Kenshin, on the other hand, smiled calmly.  
  
"Miss Kaoru is my student. She is the only heir to the Kamiya Kasshin style." He said. Miss Gina's eyes widened (if it was possible) further, and she turned her attention back to Kaoru.  
  
"So you're a swordswoman? That's impressive! From what I know, your kind is dying out in Tokyo."  
  
"They're dying out in all of Japan," Kenshin replied. "But there are a few who truly appreciate the art of the sword. He put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder to show that he believed Kaoru was one of them. Miss Gina smiled and took Kaoru's arm.  
  
"All right then! Let's get some dance clothes for you!"  
  
"Is there a dress code?" Kaoru asked as she was led towards the leotards. Miss Gina nodded.  
  
"Solid colored leotard, tights, ballet slippers, and a skirt, if you like. Go on, pick out a leotard."  
  
Kaoru turned her eyes to the wrack of leotards in every color imaginable. She turned the wrack to the part that had all of the smalls, and grabbed a black one, a pink one, and a soft yellow one. Miss Gina had left her for a moment and returned with two pairs of tights. Kaoru tried them all on with the tights, and decided the yellow one was the most comfortable. When she came out, she felt entirely naked- in nothing but dance tights and a leotard.   
  
"What size shoe do you wear?" Miss Gina asked.   
  
"6 ," Kaoru replied, heading over to the wrack with skirts. They were translucent, but it was definitely better than nothing. The first one that matched- pink with light yellow and orange flowers- she pulled off the wrack and hanger, and wrapped around her waist. When she was done, she looked up to see Kenshin watching her. He smiled, and Kaoru blushed. Miss Gina hurried over with a small box.  
  
"You'll get used to the clothes soon, don't worry." She said in response to Kaoru's embarrassment. "Here," she handed Kaoru the box. Kaoru opened it and pulled out a pink leather slipper. There was a bench, and she sat down to try the slippers on. They fit.   
  
"Now you're ready to go!" Miss Gina beamed. She pulled Kaoru off the bench and spun her, removing the tags as she did so, to hand them to Kenshin.   
  
"Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said as he took the tags from Miss Gina. "I have to work tonight, but Sano will pick you up."  
  
"Ok," Kaoru replied.

- - - - -

When Kaoru walked into the studio, she was greeted with 7 curious heads turning her way. Miss Gina laid a hand on Kaoru's shoulder and cleared her throat. In the distance, Kaoru heard Kenshin's SUV start up and pull away. For some reason this, more than anything else, filled her with dread.  
  
"Ladies, we have a new student joining us today. Her name is Kaoru."  
  
"Hello, Kaoru!" 7 voices chorused in greeting. Kaoru waved weakly.  
  
"Hello," she said. Miss Gina beamed, and gave Kaoru a slight push in the direction of the barre.  
  
"Kaoru, we start every ballet class at the barre. You can get at the end of the line if you'd like." she motioned towards an empty spot at the barre behind the last girl, who grinned at her. Kaoru returned her smile gratefully and headed over. "Since this is your first ballet class, it may be difficult. But we all understand, and you'll be caught up in no time!" with that, she clapped her hands, and headed over to the cd player. Self-consciously, Kaoru turned to the barre and mimicked the girl in front of her.  
  
"Hi!" the girl said, looking over her shoulder at Kaoru. "I'm Tae. Welcome to ballet class! You'll love it; Miss Gina's great."  
  
Wordlessly, Kaoru nodded. Tae grinned.  
  
"Just do what I do if you get confused. We'll all help out, right, Misao?" the girl in front of her turned upon hearing her name and grinned, nodding.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry, Kaoru, you'll catch up in no time!"

- - - - -

At the end of the hour of ballet, Kaoru felt like there was no way she would ever catch up. The terminology was all in french and all above her head; and all the other girls knew what they were doing while she was utterly clueless. Miss Gina, Tae, Misao, and the other girls told her it was nothing to worry about; she felt otherwise. The girls left the studio sweating, and Kaoru looked around expectantly for Sanosuke. She couldn't find him anywhere. Frowning, Kaoru checked the dance shop, the three studios to the left of the ballet room, and finally, the studio to the right. Poking her head in, she saw around 15 tiny girls including Ayame and Suzume, a young teacher only a few years older than herself, and a line of parents against one wall. One of them was not a parent, however, it was Sanosuke.  
  
And unlike all the other people he was standing with, Sano was not avidly watching a little girl. He was avidly watching the teacher. Rolling her eyes, Kaoru slid the glass door open and headed over to stand by him.  
  
"Hey, Jou-chan," he said without looking at her. She bristled at the old nickname, but he laid a lazy arm across her shoulders. Kaoru looked at his point of interest; the teacher couldn't have been more than 21 or 22. Wavy brown hair hung down her to her upper back and was held out of her eyes with a purple headband; and bright green eyes sparkled as she taught the little girls. A light green leotard matched her eyes, and a purple skirt floated lightly whenever she moved. Kaoru noticed that she taught in the ballet shoes known as pointe shoes, and that the little girls tried in vain to move exactly like their lovely young teacher. Kaoru smirked at Sano until he looked at her.  
  
"What?" he asked, not wasting a second before he was staring at the young woman again.  
  
"Wonderful, girls! You danced beautifully today! Remeber to practice for class next week, all right?" the teacher had an almost childish voice, and Kaoru noticed the smallest of smiles tugging on Sano's lips. She shook her head and dragged him over to the woman.  
  
"KAORU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ayame and Suzume yelled in unison, making her cringe. She giggled and bent, lifting each girl in a hug.  
  
"Well, hello. Are you Ayame and Suzume chans' sister and brother?" the teacher asked, smilng at Kaoru and Sano. Kaoru shook her head.  
  
"No, I'm their neighbor. Sano-"  
  
"I'm her sensei's best friend," Sano interrupted, as if this was an impressive masculine statement. He held out his hand to her. "Sanosuke Sagara."   
  
"Magdaria Shougo," the teacher answered, taking his hand delicately. She seemed slightly unimpressed with Sano.  
  
"So," Kaoru interrupted, wanting to give Sano time to recover, "do you wear those all the time to teach?" she pointed at Magdaria's pointe shoes. Magdaria subconsciously tappedÿher left shoe on the ground as she answered.  
  
"These? Oh, no. I only wear them when I'm teaching advanced classes, and when I'm dancing myself. I usually wear slippers like the girls have on, but they beg me to wear these. I figure its good to give them something to aspire to, you know?" Magdaria smiled at Kaoru. "I notice you're in slippers as well. Do you take ballet?"  
  
"First class today," Kaoru replied, embarrassed. "I'm terrible, though."  
  
"The first class is always the hardest, especially if you join later in the year. Don't worry, you'll do fine." Magdaria smiled at Kaoru, and she smiled back. "Well, it was nice meeting you all! I'll see you next week, Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan."  
  
Ayame and Suzume tackle-hugged her, and Sano smiled hopefully at her.  
  
"See you around. . ." he said, but she had been distracted by some of the other little girls. Kaoru poked him in the side.  
  
"Come on, Sano, lets get home," she said impatiently, Suzume sitting on her shoulders and Ayama grasping one of Sano's hands. He scowled, looking away from Magdaria.  
  
"Yeah, all right."

- - - - -

A/N: Kaoru's teacher is based off one of my old dance teachers. She was about 50, but overly excited about just about EVERYTHING. She was so much fun. I picked the name Gina because its both Japanese and American. Not because its my friend's name. looks around suspiciously ALSO- several important notes:  
  
-forgive the typos and misspellings, for some reason Word won't work on my computer, so I have to use wordpad and thus can't spell check.  
  
-sorry that I haven't updated in YEARS! I've got the entire story planned out, though, and its gonna KICK BUTT so get excited :)  
  
-sorry also about the crappy formatting. wordpad would also not work, so I had to use text. anyone know how I can fix formatting with text? html?  
  
-I'd kill to be able to dance en pointe. I've wanted to for forever, but only recently got my butt into ballet class. sighs, then glares at RK-128 and kicks her several times in jealousy   
  
Thanks to:  
  
RK-128 - Actually, while the session was intense, it was nothing extraordinary. Like, we could've handled it. We'd be exhausted at the end, but we wouldn't have hyperventilated like Kaoru did. Its just that, as a stripper, the only exercise she ever got was, well. . . stripping. She may have had a nice body, but she was completely out of shape. And thanks, as usual, for being such a fan. Oh, I'm sorry, a "female fanboy". LOL. Gee, what part of that doesn't make sense? Also. Your new nickname? "Wake up Call".  
  
. . .merrrrrrrr.  
  
Celesta1 - Aww, don't cry over my stories! They're not THAT good! If you get that excited over mine, I dunno how you'd react to some of the really, really amazing ones out there. Either way, thanks so much for the support!  
  
Mika - I'd be overjoyed if I met a guy remotely like Kenshin. And yeah, the love life. . . I'm workin' on it. Thanks for reading   
  
Saitan's daughter - One more word: THANKS! LOL. You make me giggle.  
  
Koishii Sweet - that's one way of looking at it- no matter what I do to her, everyone's gonna hate her. sigh Kinda sucks for poor Tomoe, does it not? Aw, too bad! Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Hotguylover - your username cracks me up. And sorry I took so long! I didn't mean to, I promise! Thanks much for reading and reviewing.  
  
XxSilentxDreamerxX - I would've updated every week during the school year, its just that I got so busy. . . but I love this story, so I'm going to try to keep it up weekly or bi-weekly if I can this summer. Thanks for readin'! 


	7. Succeed

Sweet Mistake

Succeed

by Seabreeze

A/N: I have to apologize to anyone who took the time to read this ragged story and leave reviews. You guys were amazing, and I just couldn't stick with it. I don't expect anyone to come back (its been 2 years since I started this story… holy cow), but I definitely hope you do, though I don't deserve it.

Sorry, also, 'cause this is a short and boring "connecting" chapter. The next one will be too, but after that… things start heating up.

Disclaimer: No, I still don't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters.

- - - - -

With her weekly ballet classes and Kenshin's daily training sessions, Kaoru began to improve. After 2 or 3 ballet classes, she understood the majority of the terms and could at least attempt the moves they tried. Her kendo was beginning to truly impress Kenshin; she was a very fast learner. VERY fast. They were already a week and a half ahead of his training schedule, and they were only getting farther ahead. He contributed it to her intense concentration and focus, but knew it didn't hurt that she was a natural.

Which was why he decided to begin teaching her hand to hand combat. It was always important to learn as many ways as possible to protect oneself, and Kenshin knew all too well that Kaoru might be thrown into a situation where a sword was not handy. This, too, he learned, Kaoru was very good at. Just as good as she was with a bokken, and Kenshin was so impressed by the advantage that dance gave her that he nearly wanted to sign himself up for it.

After several weeks of this, Kaoru was getting good. So good that Kenshin decided it was definitely time to sign her up for her first competition.

"A competition?" Kaoru asked, letting the tip of her practice sword hit the ground in front of her. Her eyes were wide. "Kenshin, I just began learning the Kamiya Kasshin style, there's no way I can compete-"

"Relax, Miss Kaoru. The competition's not for a few weeks, and we'll train hard for it. As your sensei I am very confident that you will be ready for this competition by then." He smiled at her, and she sighed.

"You'd know best," she said, though she still didn't believe him.

- - - - - - -

Tae, Kaoru, and Misao had become great friends in ballet. Tae and Misao were more experienced, and would help Kaoru out whenever she needed it. It wasn't long before Tae suggested that they make a weekly plan to go out for ice cream after ballet. Kaoru agreed readily, but Misao unfortunately had tap right after ballet. Disappointed as she was, she immediately insisted Tae and Kaoru go on without her. So the plans were set, and Kaoru informed both Kenshin and Sano (who frequently picked Kaoru and the little ones up) of the plan.

On their first outing, the two tights-n-leotards wearing girls walked to the ice cream shop, chatting cheerfully. The western-inspired shop was filled with every flavor of icecream imaginable, and the owner was known for mixing anything a person could request. Once seated, Kaoru ordered a smoothie combining every natural fruit flavor in the shop, and Tae ordered a smoothie mixing chocolate, carmel, vanilla, fudge, and marshmallow. They ate their gigantic smoothies and talked easily about dance class and their lives. Tae was very curious about Kaoru's training, and pelted her with questions before the topic was turned back to dance.

About halfway through each girl's smoothie, a beautiful woman entered the shop and ordered a mint-chocolate chip smoothie. Hearing Tae and Kaoru discuss the technicalities of dance, she turned to them, a smile lighting up her face.

"Oh, are you girls ballet dancers? I used to dance a few years ago!" she said. Both girls turned to her, smiling in return.

"Yes, we dance over at Miss Gina's once a week," Tae replied. "Where did you used to dance?"

"I was with the Tokyo ballet until graduate school! Do you mind if I sit down? I haven't talked ballet in so long!" she slid into the seat across from Kaoru, and both girls stared at her with looks of awe.

"The Tokyo Ballet?" Kaoru asked, dumbstruck. "You must've been amazing!"

"Were you en pointe?" Tae demanded, leaning towards their new friend. The woman smiled and nodded.

"Oh, yes. What a feeling! When you were dancing it was the most amazing feeling in the world, but once the music was gone your feet hurt so badly!" she sighed dreamily and sipped on her smoothie as the younger girls exchanged shocked glances.

"I still can't believe you were a member of the Tokyo Ballet… were you ever in the Nutcracker?" Kaoru asked, spellbound. The woman nodded, staring off into the distance.

"My last year there, I played the part of the sugar plum fairy. That was ethereal, girls. I wish I could show you how it felt."

The conversation lasted for a half an hour longer, full of breathless talk about the joy that was Ballet. Kaoru felt a bit left out as she knew very little about ballet compared to Tae and especially their new friend, but she was excited to learn from talking with them. By the time Tae and Kaoru had to leave, the three had decided to meet every week after the girls' ballet class and talk about dance. As the woman was walking out the door, Kaoru stopped her.

"Excuse me, miss, we forgot to ask your name!" she called. The woman turned.

"Tomoe," she replied, giving them a smile as she left. It didn't even occur to Kaoru that the name was the very same as Kenshin's fiancée's name.

- - - - - - - - - -

(Long-awaited) Thank you's:

Jurie – thank you, its really nice to hear J I hope I haven't been forgotten.

My Name is R.C – I will be the first to admit that this story is full of weirdness and holes, but I'm glad you liked it anyway. I know I like writing it. Thanks for the review.

Ookami-Hitomi – thank you very much, new readers are always good to get. I hope I haven't lost ya yet.

Iryl – yeah, there's no real point in Kenshin going Battousai in this story. I'm glad you like the details, though I realize now that most of them are kinda B-S. However, ballet is an amazing cardio workout that can benefit probably any other sport. Whew, you sweat in that class. Thanks for reviewing.

Celesta1 – I didn't notice you being grumpy, but thanks for the review and the encouragement!

Crazed T.V. Girl – This story's not too long, so you won't have to wait much for Kenshin and Kaoru to get their heads together. Or maybe you will, because I haven't updated in over a year… sheepish grin thanks for the review.

GreenEyedFloozy – I'm so sorry, I know I'm a terrible writer. Writer's block just has a tendency to completely own me. I'm sorry you had to wait! Hopefully you won't be too angry with me. Thanks for the review.

Steelphoenix – _tell_ me about the premise being unbelievable – I think had I been a more mature writer at the time I conceived this idea I could've pulled it off more convincingly, but c'est la vie. Hopefully from now on it will be less fairy-tale. Thanks for the review.


	8. Faith

Sweet Mistake

Faith

By Seabreeze

AN: I'm being positive. This is the last tough (writer's block-wise) chapter I have to write before this story gets insanely fun to write. So I'm gettin' it over with. Plus it'll be short.

Disclaimer: Only the idea is mine, and trust me, you don't want that.

- - - - - - - -

Kenshin ducked easily as Kaoru's bokken swung high over both their heads, aiming for his right shoulder. Dodging to the left, he whirled and swung his bokken back at her, only to have it, to his great surprise, blocked. Behind the defending bamboo stick was Kaoru's face, triumphant. Kenshin backed off a little, his own bokken still raised.

"Good, Kaoru, very good, but don't get cocky. Always remember that your opponent could be holding back on you." Before he finished the sentence, he charged her straight on, face livid. Kenshin saw a small smirk on his apprentice's face: good, she saw and ignored his scare tactic. However, she was still being too cocky. At the last minute he swiveled around her and swung his bokken in a blow that could've broken her neck; however he slowed the force so that it only tapped her there. With his back to her, he heard her gasp of surprise. Teaching students not to get too cocky was easy. He turned and bowed to her before walking back a few steps, bokken lowered.

"And you see what I mean when I say not to get cocky. The only space you have in your mind while fighting is the space for two things and two things alone: 1. your sword, and 2. your opponent's. If you have time to think about anything else or even feel anything else, you're not concentrating hard enough, and against a good enough fighter, you've no chance of winning."

His student's face was blank in awe. She nodded.

"Its so easy to become over-confidant for acheiving a strike or blocking a blow," she said, humbled. Kenshin smiled, setting his bokken down for a moment.

"Yes, but it is nothing compared to achieving many strikes and blocking many blows and winning a match. If you must feel pleasure for doing such things, wait until the match is over. But even then, you can't let that carry into the next match. If its one thing this one's learned, its that humility will help you a lot, no matter what path you take."

"That's for sure," Kaoru agreed, wiping her brow of sweat with a tired hand. She smiled and took a breath. "Can I try again?" Kenshin's violet eyes widened in surprise.

"Already? Of course. I'm glad to see your endurance is improving." He lifted his bokken into defensive stance. "ready?" he asked, and Kaoru lifted her own bokken, copying her sensei, nodding.

"Ready." The two fighters bowed, and Kaoru immediately made the first attack. Kenshin watched her movements and her face, and decided she was ready for a simple but difficult to block counter-attack: one in which he attacked _during_ her own attack. Neophytes were usually shocked by this attack; usually the pattern of the spar was simply attack, counter attack, defend, and repeat. As Kaoru neared, he suddenly moved his bokken and made a sharp stab towards the left side of her stomach. Kaoru's eyes filled with genuine surprise, but to his amazement she rolled over his attack, twisting midair to land on the right side of his bokken, completely unharmed. Keeping the surprise and happiness off his face, Kenshin attacked again, and ended the spar only a few moves later by letting her tap his arm with her final attack. Breathing heavily, Kaoru glared at Kenshin.

"First you use an illegal move and then you let me win," she accused, holding a small stitch in her side. She and Kenshin bowed to eachother, and he moved to take her bokken and set both on the wall to his left. Once they were set on their hooks, he turned to her, grinning.

"That move is only illegal for beginners, and you avoided it beautifully. The ballet class was a wise investment, your flexibility is beyond what mine could ever be." He smiled at her in such a way that she felt blinded, and she stared at him for a moment, taking in his words. Then she grinned.

"Take all the credit, Himura-sensei – you taught me."

- - - - - - - - -

Kaoru and Tae were quite excited to meet Tomoe in the ice cream shop after ballet. They had been waiting all week, it seemed, to talk to the former ballerina and their new idol. Kaoru couldn't wait to pound her for advice on learning new steps, and Tae was still mystified by a dancer who had been en pointe. Tomoe was quick to console Kaoru.

"Every dancer has been baffled by petit allegro some time or another in their career. Its the most difficult part of ballet, some believe. At least I think so. Don't worry too much about it, Kaoru-san, just try your hardest. Your teacher knows you're new and struggling, she'll help you out if she can."

"Yeah, Kaoru, petit allegro is definitely my least favorite part of ballet. Did you see how badly I messed up? That was terrible!" Tae added. Kaoru slurped the rest of her ice cream moodily.

"It wasn't anywhere near as bad a train wreck as mine was – did you see me? I just stumbled around, looking confused." She sighed miserably and set her head down on her crossed arms. "I'll never get the hang of it." Tomoe and Tae both frowned.

"Don't give up, Kaoru-san, or you'll never get it." Tomoe warned wisely.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A bell tinkled as the door to the smallest dance studio opened. Magdaria, in dance clothes and with her hair up, looked up to see the strange, somewhat rude man who occasionally came to pick up Kaoru, Ayame, and Suzume.

"Hello," she said tentatively, smiling politely. As the man – Sano, was it? – laid eyes on her, a suave smirk lit his lips.

"Hello yourself. How've you been?" he leaned on the counter, and his jean jacket opened slightly to reveal a bare and muscular chest. Magdaria either ignored this or did not notice.

"Classes have been going well," she replied levelly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Well, I'm looking for two things." He said, grinning. Magdaria stared at him blankly until he continued. "My friend Kenshin's apprentice," he said, looking more full of himself than ever, "and a date for Friday night." Magdaria picked up a few cds and put them in their cases, her mouth in a taut line.

"Kenshin-san must not have told you that Kaoru goes out with a friend after ballet. They're at the ice cream shop on 35th." Her voice was frigid.

"Thank you. And the date?"

"Not a chance."

"Come on," he had dropped the terribly cheesy macho act, and his voice and face were genuine enough to make her turn around. "I know I'm not the type of guy you see around here much, but I promise you we'll have a good time." He watched imploringly as she seemed to consider. "Give me a chance. Just one date. That's all I'm asking." By now he sounded so sincere that Magdaria sighed and dropped her hands.

"All right. One. Friday." She agreed. Sano grinned and ran a hand through his ridiculously spiky hair.

"Seven o'clock ok with you?"

"Its fine."

As he left the studio, Magdaria couldn't help but wonder: why had she agreed? She hadn't wanted to, but before she knew what was happening, she had agreed to go on a date with that strange man…

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few weeks later, Kenshin's suv pulled quietly into his driveway at about 1:30 in the morning. In the night silence, they heard the loud slamming of their own doors. Kaoru held something silver and shiny in her hands, handling it with the utmost care. Before they parted to their respective homes, Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder.

"Third place, Kaoru," he said, gentle voice proud. "I couldn't ask for anything better for your first tournament."

Kaoru was glad the dark obscured his vision of her face, because his gentle satisfaction made her cheeks burn.

- - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Ok, so that was really, really easy to write, and it's a lot longer than I expected. Who knew you can solve writer's block just by… writing? I'm so glad. The next chapter will be a-mazing. At least to write, I dunno if it'll be good to read. Sorry about the short, "hey, Kaoru got third at the tournament… end of that story" thing there at the end.Also, I just realized, I love writing fighting/action scenes!

And personal note about Kaoru's troubles with "petit allegro" – petit allegro is not something that would be introduced to beginning ballet students, like Kaoru, but I had to put it in because I had my first run-in with it on Tuesday (I'm pretty beginner myself, but I've taken it for a year), and like Kaoru I "stumbled around and looked confused". My friend, a wise dancer (lol, I'm such a nerd) gave me nearly the same advice Tomoe gave Kaoru when I told her how badly I fumbled it. Petit allegro is generally a combination of small, fast steps. It sounds easy, but… its not. When I said I "stumbled around and looked confused", I'm not exaggerating in the least. Usually I have SOME semblance of an idea what I'm doing in dance, but not that time… anyway, I just needed something balletic for them to discuss, and my amazing ballet teacher provided me with the perfect material. Thanks, Matt!

Finally, Thank You's:

Crazed T.V. Girl – unfortunately I must tell you now that Tomoe's dancing has very little to do with anything other than the fact that it gets her and Kaoru to be friends, and perhaps that Kenshin has a fetish for dancers ;) Also, I hope I updated soon enough but it will be frequent – weekly, if I can help it. Thank you for the review, it made me very happy.

Clemen – yeah, but I'm getting back into the groove. Things will just get longer as I get more into what I write, but there are only 5 chapters or so left. Thank you for your kind review.

Mega Kenshin Fan – I hope my story didn't freak you out, but even if it did, apparently you like it anyhow thanks for reviewing, and here's some tea!

ASKinfinity – I wasn't planning on making dance a very big part of the story, but I guess its not a bad idea to have at least a little bit of it in each chapter. I understand your passion for dance – I'm not very good, but I get so excited to go to class! I especially love jazz (which I've been doing for several years) and lyrical (which I just picked up). Its great to see another anime otaku who also dances – there should be a club for us! Anyway, thanks for the review. I hope the dance in the story (and indeed the story itself) are satisfactory.

Royal blueKitsune – heh, you should read Honeysuckles and Moonlight Shreds by EvilKaryta. Now there's an age difference for you, and an amazing story. Anyhow, I kept Kaoru and Kenshin at their real age difference- 10 years. In the series, Kaoru is 18 and Kenshin is 28. But I wanted to make her younger, closer to my age when I began the story, so that I could get into her head more realistically. At 15, what would I know about being 18? However now that I am nearly 18, it seems that I am exactly the same as I was back then. Oh well, hindsight is everything. Thanks for the review.


	9. Protect

Sweet Mistake

Protect

A/N: Yes, yes, on with the story!

Disclaimer: The plot, not the characters, belongs to me.

- - - - - - -

Tomoe tucked the thick strand of hair behind her ear and sighed: work at a law firm where the air conditioning had broken two weeks ago was far from fun. She picked up the file she had spent the past two hours researching and organizing dejectedly, making the decision to double check her work. She may not have been the fastest worker, but her boss loved her because no one had ever found a single mistake in her work. "Thorough" was practically her middle name.

Picking at her blouse to cool the skin on her shoulders, Tomoe re-read the basic information of the case. Typos were never an issue with her, but no one was perfect, so she had to check. So absorbed in her meticulous work was she that she failed to notice the coworker leaning on her desk and staring at her expectantly. When she looked to grab a pen to make a note, his presence surprised her. She gasped, and the man stepped back from her desk, looking sheepish.

"Forgive me, Tomoe-san. I didn't mean to frighten you. My name is Akira." He smiled politely, gentle eyes kind, and Tomoe calmed herself.

"Of course I know your name, Akira-san," she said. "Can I help you with something?" Akira looked pleased that she remembered him, and fiddled with the paper in his hand before saying quickly;

"Tomoe-san, I was wondering if you would go out to dinner with me this evening." He bowed as he spoke, which told her that he was nervous and also that he was giving her the utmost respect. She felt her cheeks flush.

"Akira-san… I'm flattered, but I'm engaged to be married in a few months." She felt terrible turning him down – she had never met anyone so sincere and polite. He stood, an awkward smile on his face.

"I ask you only as a friend and coworker," he assured her. Tomoe cursed herself internally: how rude to assume that he had been asking her out!

"Then I would love to," she replied, hoping that the blood in her cheeks was not visible to him. With a grin, Akira bowed once more.

"Wonderful. Is 6:30 alright with you?"

"Yes, that works."

"Good. I'll see you at 6:30, Tomoe."

As he walked away, Tomoe sank into her chair, relieved for some reason. Before she could fully return to her work, another of her coworkers, a woman named Hitomi, tapped her on the shoulder.

"Tomoe, what was that all about?" she asked slyly. Tomoe did not look at her but continued to check her papers.

"Nothing, Hitomi, just dinner with a friend." She replied, as if this were the most boring conversation she'd ever had. Hitomi grinned devilishly.

"Not if the rumors around the office are true," she sang, going back to her own desk.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

At around 1:30 in the morning, Kenshin's eyes flew open and he found himself to be totally awake. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He threw his covers off his legs and stood immediately, not bothering to change into his day clothes or put on his sandals. Then it hit him:

Kaoru.

It was the only possibility: the dojo was naturally quiet, with only the sounds of crickets from outside and his own movements to break the silence. But he _knew_ something was wrong, and that meant that something was wrong with Kaoru. Without hesitating, he grabbed his sakabato and hurried across his yard to the small house where Kaoru slept. As he approached the door, his suspicions were confirmed, and it made his blood run cold: the door was wide open, and he could hear voices inside. One was Kaoru's; she sounded scared and angry and upset, and the other belonged to a man. He wasted not another moment before barging into his apprentice's shack. The sight inside did not shock him – it filled him with a deadly sort of calm. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes turned a sickening shade of amber.

Kaoru was pinned to the wall by a large man. The straps of her tank top were dangling off her shoulders; Kenshin saw instantly that the man had been trying to undress her. Her chest heaved as she glared at the man, angry tears filling her blue eyes. The large man had not noticed Kenshin come in, and neither had Kaoru – both were preoccupied with fighting tensely in quiet voices. Kenshin had had enough.

The sound of the sakabato being unsheathed with a flick of his thumb cut into the arguing.

The shock of suddenly finding someone else in the room made the large man drop Kaoru. She sank to the floor, staring at Kenshin with a mix of gratefulness, fear, and shame. Kenshin saw, once the man had turned to face him, that Kaoru had done quite a job protecting herself – the man had blood running from under his hair somewhere on his skull, his arms were scratched, and it looked like she had tried to bite his ear. His cheek and forearm were bruised. Kenshin looked over the man's wounds and let out a snort.

"I suggest you run as fast as you can. If the student can give you that many injuries, think of what the teacher can do." His voice was unlike Kaoru had ever heard it before – cold, sneering, vicious. Merciless. For some reason she felt like she would be seeing her attacker's blood very, very soon. The large man assessed Kenshin, looking him up and down, and then laughed.

"Like _you're_ going to stop me getting what I want from this girl." He swung a large fist at Kenshin's head – Kaoru almost felt bad for him. It was a stupid move. Too fast to be seen, Kenshin had drawn the sakabato and used it to block the man's blow. While its reversed blade protected the man from slicing his hand in half, the force of his own punch upon a metal blade shattered the bones in that hand. As he howled in pain, Kenshin eyed him.

"Yes, that's exactly what's going to happen." He said, sheathing the sakabato. "Get out."

Stumbling towards the wall which Kaoru was currently sitting against, the man noted the lack of the presence of the sword and grinned. Reaching over, he grabbed Kaoru around the waist with his good hand and pulled.

"I think I'll take this with me, for some – " he gave Kenshin a knowing look " – _fun_." But before he could make even the slightest move towards the door, Kenshin had unsheathed the sakabato once more and attacked. Kaoru saw his pupils dilate and shrink in extreme pain, felt the rapists' body convulge at the strike to his right side. She watched in horror as he fell, expecting blood and gore but only seeing the most brutal red welt she had ever seen along his skin. Whining in pain, the man dragged himself along the floor. Kenshin stepped easily over his large body and put himself between the attacker and Kaoru.

"No one, " he said, in a possessive hiss that made Kaoru feel oddly warm, "touches _my_ student."

"Alright! Alright…" the man whimpered, dragging himself towards the door. Kenshin spit at him coldly.

"Get up." He ordered. The man only continued whimpering, and Kenshin raised the sakabato so the man could see it. "Get. Up." He repeated. With what looked like excruciating work, the man dragged himself into a standing position. Kaoru watched the back of Kenshin's form for any hint of forgiveness or mercy, and found none. "Now here's what you're going to do." Kenshin said, voice like ice. "You're going to walk yourself out of Miss Kaoru's home. You're going to walk yourself off my property and down to the police station. You're going to turn yourself in for break-in and attempted rape. And while you're sitting in your jail cell, you're going to remember that if you – or anyone else – tries to harm my apprentice, they will have to deal with me and my sword. Is that understood?"

"Y-yes," the man said shakily, grasping the wound that was now beginning to bleed. Kenshin's eyes narrowed.

"Go."

Together, Kenshin and Kaoru watched the large, fowl man drag himself outside of her door and around the corner of her house. They listened quietly as the sounds of his moans and dragging feet went quieter and quieter. However, the quieter it got, the more Kaoru was filled with feelings and emotions she couldn't handle. She retracted into herself, pulling her knees to her chest as tightly as possible and wrapping her arms around them. She stared straight ahead, wanting nothing more than for Kenshin to leave. Or yell and kick her out. Or maybe he could use the sakabato on her, like he had on the man… she felt tears well in her eyes, but refused to let herself cry them. That would mean she wanted Kenshin's pity. And she didn't. She wanted his rage, she wanted punishment. It was all her fault. Everything. She had brought a dangerous man to Kenshin's home.

While she felt herself growing heavy with self-loathing, Kenshin, back still to her, shook his head violently, and when his red strands ceased flying, his eyes were as large and violet as ever. He turned to see his student and noticed for the first time since entering her home that she, too, had injuries. They were the sort of injuries that made him swell with anger, and he nearly ran out to beat the man once more, but Kaoru was clearly in need of some assistance – now. Her lower lip had been split, and they were red and swollen. The man had hit her, and then kissed her aggressively. An angry shiver ran down Kenshin's spine. What were unmistakably 5 fingerprints bruised themselves into the skin of her chest – two near her neck, and the other three on her left breast, which had nearly been exposed. Kenshin knelt beside her for closer inspection, and saw something that frightened him – her eyes. They were hollow and red-rimmed, but she wasn't crying.

"Kaoru-dono?" he asked gently. Her head twitched slightly away, but otherwise she gave no impression of hearing him. Feeling it necessary, Kenshin brought the straps of her tank top back onto her shoulders, and breathed now that she wasn't so virtually exposed. He took one of her hands in his. "Kaoru, answer me." No response. He thought for a moment, running his thumb over the back of her hand. "Kaoru, who was that man?" To his surprise, she gave a shuddering breath and replied,

"A former client. I was his favorite. He was angry I quit working. He came to get me." Her eyes remained dull. Kenshin frowned. He had expected her to be upset, but this was strange. She should've been crying, but she was silent. He stood slowly and tugged at the hand he held.

"Come on, lets get you cleaned up. I'll warm up the bath for you." He said softly. She yanked her hand away from him.

"It will take more than a bath to clean me," she said harshly. Ah, Kenshin thought. So that was it. He knelt again, this time taking her forearms firmly in her hands and using his strength to pull her up. She had no choice but to stand, and glared away from him. He knew she was not angry with him, but with herself. For who she had been, and who she thought she was. In a sudden movement, Kenshin pulled her into a tight hug. She struggled, surprised.

"Get away!" she said, a touch of panic in her voice. "Don't touch me!" but he only hugged her tighter. Eventually she quit fighting and relaxed into his hold. He was glad when, a few minutes later, he felt hot tears soaking the shirt material over his left shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself." He said quietly. She let out a muffled sob and clung to him.

"I brought him here, b-because-"

"_He_ brought himself here because _he_ was a sick man. That is the truth, and you have no choice but to accept it, that you don't." His voice was gentle but firm. He rubbed her back and she broke into another gale of sobs.

"I'm so s-s-_sorry_, Kenshin," she choked out between sobs. He felt her words tug at his heart a little.

"Don't apologize. Just agree you'll come up to the house and take a bath." She pulled away enough to wipe the tears off her face.

"Why don't I just take one here?" she asked, eyes swollen and lower lip still trembling. Kenshin's eyes grew dark as he rubbed her upper arms.

"I don't think you should live down here anymore. I can protect you better in my home." With a guiding arm around her shoulders, Kenshin led her to the dojo.

- - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: I can't get over how dramatic I am when I write. I've abandoned all my responsibilities to make this story very realistic. Hellooo, soap opera. Oh well. Well, it would be boring if nothing happened to spur the romance! Originally the rapist was supposed to have more character, but I got bored with him and just made him your standard, stupid, hulking villain. This was kinda designed after the Jin-eh fight, a little, and also from this one movie, but that's totally unrelated. Anyway. I love when he gets all possessive like that. Not that he ever really does in the series, much, but promotional art… yeeah. Sweet. Come on, is he NOT the perfect hero?

I'm proud of myself for writing about Tomoe and not making her, like… cry or be pathetic. I tried to be nice and understand her. Think I did ok?

Thank you's:

Mini-Moonstar – I'm going with my original plan for this story, so it will move pretty quickly. I have a short attention span, and can't be expected to stick around writing about the same thing for very long. But hopefully the groundwork for emotions will be properly set. Thanks for the review :D

Crazed T.V. Girl – well, before I started writing it I didn't expect it to reach two pages, so what I did write was an achievement Kaoru and Tomoe's friendship will not be monumental, but it will certainly be helpful, in the future. That is all I will say on that. Thank you so much for being a devoted reader, it means a lot that you stick by my ragged and well-beaten story.

shikaku zetsumei – I'm a big fan of Magdaria, so I like to keep her story pretty much the same as it is in the series- she chose the name "Magdaria", and only her brother knows her real name is Sayo. I actually find it odd that people in other fics call her "Sayo" right off the bat. Both names are beautiful, but I like that she keeps her real name a secret. It says a lot about her, that she's a pretty private and reserved person, and also that she's really devout and faithful. Both "Sayo" and "Magdaria" are integral parts of her character, and both, I find, are necessary for keeping her in-character. Though I usually write AU fics, I think its fun to find ways to mirror the characters and series into my own chosen setting. So for me, at least, Magdaria stays. But to each his own. Thanks for reading :D

ASKinfinity – are you kidding? The longer the review, the better! I love hearing from you guys (especially when it's positive and/or well-meaning) and getting to know you. And I absolutely love to talk about dance. Thanks for complimenting me on Kaoru's third place. I'd originally slated for her to win, but that's a little unbelievable. She's still just beginning to learn, and third still isn't bad for such a beginner. Also, its too bad that you can't dance outside of school! Do you dance with your school, like on the team? My friend (writer here, RK128) is the captain of our school's dance team, so from her experiences I definitely get that school stuff takes up a lot of time. I actually auditioned to make my studio's company for jazz and ballet, and I made it! I'm so excited, I've never made any sort of team before and I've never gotten to compete! I'm pretty pumped. Petit allegro is like a combination of tiny steps… I'll try to remember the one I botched…glissade, jette to the right, glissade, jette to the left… yeah, there was a lot more, but its all done quickly and with little movements. Anyway, thanks so very much for the lovely review, and I hope to hear from you next time around, too :D


	10. Miscalculation

Sweet Mistake

Miscalculation

A/N: I have a secret and I'm not gonna tell you…

Disclaimer: headdesk

On a late weekday evening, Magdaria watched as the last of her students filed out of the room, waving cheerfully and thanking her for the lesson. Magdaria smiled and nodded, feeling as if there was no other job in the world for her. As she organized the music area, her boss, Miss Gina, peaked her head in the doorway.

"Miss Magdaria?" she said enthusiastically. Magdaria turned.

"Hmm?" she responded a little dreamily.

"You're the last one here. Will you lock up?" Miss Gina asked. Magdaria nodded.

"Of course I will. See you tomorrow."

"Goodbye!"

The glass door slid shut and Magdaria heard the energetic dance teacher leave, start up her car, and pull away. Magdaria was alone. Then she had an idea- once it hit her, she couldn't ignore it. Setting her bag down on the teacher's chair, she opened it and pulled out a cd and her worn canvas slippers. Once they were on, she dimmed the lights- this particular room had regular lighting and "stage" lighting, so that occasionally students could perform like they were on stage. She loved the stage lights, personally, and used them every chance she got. Now, the lights and the barre and the empty floor were calling her, and she hadn't danced, really danced, herself, since she was a student. Setting the cd in the cd player, she turned it on and walked over to the barre.

Magdaria began doing simple bar stretches and combinations as the soft music flowed in the empty studio. Unlike in a real class, she began to let her mind wander… she thought about her students, the dances she was choreographing, who should be sent to the Ballet Conservatory in Tokyo… and for some reason, her mind zeroed in on that vulgar man Sano as her feet went on auto-pilot into frappès.

Really, what nerve he had. To come in a refined studio dressed like a gangster with that ridiculous "bad" t-shirt… real men, like her brother, wore collared shirts. And then for some reason he had shown interest in her. She had seen it probably before he had, his interest. He had gone about it all wrong, she thought, her foot striking the floor particularly hard. She sighed, starting sur le cou de pied's, thinking that she was being too judgemental. It wasn't his fault, the way he was. She just wasn't used to people like him, and clearly he wasn't used to people like her. She laughed a little- Muto would not be pleased that she had agreed to see that brute for a date.

"Alright. So." Kenshin set his bokken in the correct hold, facing his student. Kaoru mimicked the stance and nodded. "I'm going to come at you with a set of varying attacks. After I try the one-handed thrust, for example, I want you to waste as little time as possible coming back at me with the one-handed thrust. We're testing the speed of your brain and the reactions of your body here- I want you to see the attack, recognize it, and hit me right back with it. I'll start off with more basic attacks, because this exercise is hard to get the hang of at first."

As he had said, Kenshin began with the one-handed thrust. He aimed towards her stomach, and she caught the blow easily with her own bokken, knocking his away with just enough time for her to return the thrust. She aimed for his shoulder and he knocked her bokken away, nodding.

"Yes," he said, pacing as he spoke, bokken ready. " Don't worry about landing hits just yet- remember, I know more or less what's coming. Just block and repeat."

Without warning, he flew at her with a reverse horizontal swing, which she blocked, and with some hesitation, returned.

"See, it gets hard." Kenshin said, smiling knowingly. They continued in this vein for awhile, and the attacks became more and more complicated, and Kaoru began having more and more trouble returning them in an appropriate amount of time. "Don't worry," Kenshin said, noticing Kaoru's frustration and scowling. "We're going to start over, starting the easy attacks and moving on up, but I'm going to use different attacks in a different order. See how much your timing improves the second time around." He sounded so cheerful, Kaoru couldn't help but agree even if the exercise was getting on her nerves. It took thought and concentration and effort, but not originality- Kaoru loved sparring, fighting Kenshin with no voice talking at her but her own. She had never beat him but she knew that someday she could… it was far, but she could see it.

The second time, the exercise went better. She felt her brain tuning itself to the pattern of see-block-repeat, and her hesitations were growing shorter. Satisfied, she smiled at Kenshin.

"Well, I'm not exactly an expert, but that felt better." She told him. Kenshin grinned, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Good," he said. "Now we're going to make you brain work hard in a completely different way- we're going to spar, and this time I'm not giving you your attacks." His grin was simply playful, knowing Kaoru loved this, and hers was devilish.

"You better watch out, Kenshin," she sang happily. "Someday I'm going to beat you!"

He laughed, setting his bokken for attack once more.

"I hope so, Miss Kaoru, that I do." He waited until she was in the proper stance, and they bowed. "Ladies first."

Surprised, Kaoru thought fast- Kenshin always made the first attack. But this was more fun. Seeming to burst from a standstill, she attempted the attack in which she leapt into the air to get the over-head advantage- Kenshin had taught her this especially because she was so small. Her bokken swung down towards his right shoulder, and he blocked it so firmly that she practically felt herself being pushed back towards her original spot. Before she had landed, Kenshin was coming at her with what looked like a regular diagonal slash- easy enough to block, she thought, catching the bulk of the attack with her bokken. As Kenshin pulled away she noted a smile of approval in his eyes, and she warmed slightly as she pulled the bokken up towards her ears and snaked it down to whack him on the side- he twisted easily, avoiding the blow, and advanced at her quickly with a side blow- she knew he used simple attacks on her because it was what her future opponents would use, because all the easy attacks required one to get close to their enemy, and Kaoru's size was always against her. Still- she brought her bokken up slowly across her body to protect her right side- it annoyed her that he didn't use something more- her eyes widened as she saw his weight shift to his right foot, and his bokken changed directions with blinding speed- in a desperate attempt to block, she swung her bokken up protectively. Both seemed surprised as his bokken collided with hers so violently that it was thrown from her hands. There was silence except for their heavy breathing and then, the loud noise of her bokken hitting the floor some 12 feet away.

They stared at each other for a few moments, catching their breaths.

"Excellent." Kenshin said finally. "But now you're-"

With a move that surprised even him, Kaoru came running at him. She leapt, so that her body was nearly horizontal to the ground, her feet aimed at him. Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise as he tensed his body for the hit, but she kicked hard instead the hand holding the bokken. She landed lightly behind him, and for the second time in those two minutes, they heard the loud clanking of a wooden bokken hitting the floor some distance away.

"-Unarmed?" she finished cheekily. She crouched, hands tight and arms prepared in front of her. Kenshin looked at her for a minute, grinned, and then got into position as well.

"You asked for it," he said light-heartedly. Kaoru grinned again- she had never had a training session that had been more fun. Moving stealthily towards him, she made the first move- a sharp blow intended for his face. Kenshin blocked the hit and returned one aimed toward her chest. Their nearness made her arms virtually useless, so she jumped back on her right leg, kicking her left leg up sharply in a hitch-kick to meet his blow. Kenshin nodded approvingly, and the two began a rapid exchange of blocks that went without pause like a well-choreographed dance. Kaoru's hair was beginning to fall out of her high ponytail in chunks, gracefully framing her rosy cheeks and getting in front of her eyes. Kenshin, who had quite long ago learned how to avoid hair becoming a problem, used this to advantage. Grabbing the arm that delivered a rather blind hit, he twisted it around her and pinned it to her back so that she was trapped. He heard her make a noise of pain, but she said nothing as she struggled against his hold. He grinned; as simple a move as it was, it was nearly impossible to get out of without hurting oneself. Kaoru knew this, of course- he had taught her himself. He could practically see her brain reeling inside her head, looking for a way out- and she found it. In a move that could've broken her wrist, she turned out away from him and grinned triumphantly.

"Good," he said, squeezing her wrist pointedly. "But not good enough." Looking down, Kaoru scowled and tried to yank her arm back to herself, but Kenshin refused to let go. She was still trapped. Kaoru had a fleeting image of herself running madly about the dojo with Kenshin oro-ing dizzily after her, but that didn't quite seem like the way to do it. However… smiling, Kaoru bent her knees and began turning back towards him. Before the confused Kenshin could react, she had pulled her leg up fast and hard as high as it would go from that position, and struck him squarely on the shoulder. Surprised, Kenshin reacted before he knew what he was doing, and rolled towards her to the floor, dragging her with him. He had luckily let go of her wrist as he did so, but now she was pinned awkwardly beneath him, his knee painfully resting on her hip. She let out a yell of pain- his knee had been on a nerve on her hip, and it had been excruciating for a moment or two- and he pulled back in surprise. Seeing her moment, Kaoru pounced, throwing all her weight towards his shoulders, and knocked him into his back on the floor. She grinned, pressing as much of her weight as possible into her hands resting on his shoulders and breathing heavily. Kenshin let the surprise leave his eyes- he had always known she was a creative fighter- and chuckled, before easily switching their positions.

Kaoru looked positively shocked to have been forced from the winning position, and scowled.

"You wouldn't teach me wrestling," she growled as an excuse. Kenshin laughed a little.

"Physics says its useless, Miss Kaoru," he explained. Kaoru glared at him and brought her hands up to the arms pinning her down by the shoulders and began to struggle. Kenshin shook his head, having little trouble to continue holding her down. They both knew she was fighting a losing battle, but Kaoru couldn't seem to admit defeat just yet. She squirmed beneath him, seeing if her legs were of any use to her from this position- no. She would have to rely on her upper body strength and her cunning alone. As she struggled, she thought frantically for a way-any way- to win this. Eventually her strength wore out, and her brain too had exhausted all possibilities. She had lost.

Kenshin watched her struggle, watching the fierce concentration on her face, and felt himself melt. Like any samurai warrior of the past, losing was not an option for Kaoru. She was so ferocious, so determined. She may not have been as skilled nor as talented men he had fought in the past, but her spirit shone so brightly that he closed his eyes for a moment.

Kaoru stopped scowling when she realized that Kenshin's eyes were closed. Was he okay, she wondered? He hadn't hurt himself or anything… or maybe he was mad at her… she watched his face intently for a sign. When his eyes finally opened, they did so slowly, revealing soft but intense purple eyes. For moments, they just stared at each other. She had never noticed the flecks of bright blue and the hidden streaks of dark gold in his eyes. She had never noticed his scent- well, she had noticed it, but hadn't ever taken the time to think about it. It was comforting and exciting at the same time, a mix of laundry detergent and fresh air and cooking and sandalwood. She inhaled, hoping he wouldn't notice, loving the strange but beautiful scent.

Kenshin, too, took notice of his companion as they both caught their breaths. He had always known- from the moment he saw her, actually- that she was beautiful. But until now he had distanced himself from her. He had been right to, he saw- now that he was this close, he wondered how he'd ever get away. There was something about her messy hair, flushed cheeks and eyes dancing with adrenaline…

The battle was long forgotten by now, and both Kenshin and Kaoru had relaxed. He moved his hands off her shoulders and put them on either side of her head, eyes never leaving hers. She watched in fascination as his eyes began to change, to shift…they changed slowly and beautifully from their usual lavender color to a deep blue several shades darker than her own…

Below him, he could feel her breathing. It was deep and relaxed but slightly held back- he looked to her mouth to see if it would tell him more about her air intake.

Deadly mistake. Once he saw them, he knew what he was going to do and there was no way to stop it- the tiniest drop of sweat had gathered in the small indent right above her top lip. Slowly and without warning, he bent over her and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was amazingly soft- the humidity in the room must've had a hand in that, or maybe her lips were just always that soft.

Kaoru's eyes had fluttered shut automatically; the thought to stop him had never crossed her mind in the slightest. He was so gentle, she thought, sinking into the scent and feel of the man above her. For the moment they kissed, she felt her heart contract. It felt so good to kiss him that it almost hurt. She wondered what his heart was doing, and silently moved a hand up to his left breast to feel its heavy rhythm. Kenshin shifted his weight to his right hand and moved his left hand up to cover her own over his chest, caressing the back of her hand and pressing it into his skin.

Then, suddenly, he froze. It hit him- he had pinned Kaoru to the floor. He was straddling her hips in a way that no teacher should, and, worst of all- he was kissing her. Kaoru felt beneath her fingers the rhythm miss a beat, and Kenshin pulled away, looking horrified. The feeling was contagious, and Kaoru felt terror filling her stomach as she watched his eyes go back to an almost chilling shade of purple. He scrambled to get off of her- had the moment been less serious, Kaoru would've realized that she had never seen him so graceless before. He immediately stuck out his hand, offering Kaoru help up. He seemed panicked, and she certainly felt panic, but for more reasons than one. She took his hand nervously and let him pull her up. For a moment, they stared at each other, scared to death, until Kaoru realized she was still holding onto his hand. She started, pulling her hand back and blushing. Kenshin watched her for a moment, eyes glazed with emotions she couldn't see. Then he turned and gathered their bokkens, long forgotten, from the floor, and set them in their respective holds on the wall. Kaoru felt her heart beating painfully in her throat- a million times more painfully than when he had kissed. Had they done something wrong? Had she used her body unknowingly to get a reaction like that from him? Would he ever talk to her again? Did he regret it? She felt her heart nearly stop at the next thought- had he not meant it?

She felt her eyes fill involuntarily with tears as Kenshin set the bokkens up.

"I'm going to sleep in the apprentice's shack tonight," he said, voice strange. He was trying to sound normal, she could tell, like he slept outside of his own house regularly. She didn't trust herself to respond, and he hurried so quickly from the dojo that she expected that he hadn't wanted her to say anything.

'Oh, gods, what have I done?'

_Oh, just the scent of you, it makes me hurt…_

A/N: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeew. Gotta admit, that chapter contained some of my favorite things in the world- dance, action, and sexual tension. It was definitely fun to write, but took forever… hope it was up to par?

Thank You's:

Shikaku zetsumei – you have amazing foresight to have figured out something like that was gonna happen, but then again you can't just walk away from something and have it never show up again… don't worry, I won't forget Sano and Magdaria, they're my second favorite couple in the series! I can promise you now, though, she's not gonna die in my story. Thanks for reading!

Lynn-Minmay – I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the rest of the story! Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to review!

Royal blueKitsune – I'm sorry I missed you! I could've sworn I wrote back, but I guess I forgot. I love every type of Kenshin, lol. You can't NOT love the guy. And I'd say he's been falling for her slowly for awhile… heh, hope this was the fluff you wished for! Thanks for reviewing!

ASKInfinity – The main focus of this story (clearly) is Kenshin and Kaoru, but you haven't seen the last of dear 'ol Akira yet. Drama is the best, I agree. Well, it ties with action and comedy. So basically I like everything. And yeah, the guest house seen was based a lot on the Jin-eh thing. Though I didn't really picture her attacker in spandex… he didn't quite have the body type for spandex, unfortunately. Speaking of spandex, dance! Lol. Yeah having one audition isn't cool. I messed up the audition to be on the school's team big time, but I don't think I would've liked it anyway. I hope you get to compete with your Irish dancing! My friend does it and has been since she was little, so I hear a lot about it. Its so different, but it looks so fun! I'm so excited to be taking at least 5.5 hours of dance a week this year- balancing school work will NOT be fun! But I'm taking 3 ballet classes, a jazz, and a lyrical. Although the ballet will most likely kill me… oh well. No, I've never seen that show, but I want to. Thanks for the long note ;)


	11. Broken

Sweet Mistake

Broken

By Seabreeze

A/N: After all the sexual tension there's gotta be some backlash. Ok, this website is being DUMB and I can't figure out how to designate shifts in the chapter! Please forgive me if the point of view shifts randomly- originally there were page breaks! Grrrrr!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Tomoe noticed right away that the usually chipper ballet student was more than subdued. Her friend, Tae, seemed to have noticed it too. The three ordered their usual ice cream cones and sat in their usual booth. Tae and Tomoe watched wordlessly as Kaoru concentrated dully on rolling a straw between her fingers.

"Um…Kaoru-chan?" Tomoe began tentatively. Kaoru took a moment to realize that someone was talking to her, and looked up slowly.

"Hmm?" she asked. Tae and Tomoe exchanged significant glances.

"Kaoru, are you alright?" Tomoe continued as the waiter delivered the three ice cream cones. Taking hers boredly, Kaoru began to look at it stonily.

"I'm fine," she said, voice bright though she didn't look up to meet her friends' eyes. "Just tired, is all."

Neither believed it for a second.

"You're not acting fine," Tae pointed out. Tomoe nodded in agreement.

"Really, Kaoru, is it anything we can help you with?"

Kaoru set her ice cream cone on a napkin and dropped her head on folded arms as her eyes began to look wet.

"Okay," she said very softly, her voice cracking. Tae let out a sound of pity and rubbed her friend's shoulder.

"What is it?" she asked. Kaoru cast a glance at both her friends.

"You can't tell _anyone_." She whispered softly. Tomoe reached over to take her hand.

"Of course not, Kaoru, you can trust us."

Kaoru took a deep breath.

"It has to do with a guy," she said, picking her ice cream cone (partially melted) back up and taking a tentative lick. With a sigh, she looked up to her friends. "I have to start from the beginning… see… this guy, he… he rescued me, in a way. And then he started doing all these nice things for me… and… I started loving him." She looked at each of them, eager to maintain herself. "I know it sounds dumb," she said, especially to Tomoe, "because I'm only a kid and all- but you have to understand, he's the kindest, sweetest…I can't help it. And I know you probably don't believe me," she said, this time looking at Tae, "but…" she stopped, seeming deflated. Tomoe squeezed her hand as Tae rubbed her shoulder again.

"Sweetie, we believe you. I've never seen such a cheerful girl so down before." Tomoe said reassuringly.

"Yeah, Kaoru, if you say it, we believe it." Tae said firmly. "Go on." Kaoru smiled gratefully at her friends before going on.

"And… he has a… a girlfriend. A beautiful, perfect girlfriend. I always hear about how kind and forgiving she is… and I tried, but I just couldn't stop… caring for him." She said, seemingly uncomfortable with using the word 'love' anymore. "I didn't think he saw me that way at all, he just saw me as a little sister or a niece or something." Something struck Tomoe and she drifted off in thought for a moment as Kaoru kept talking.

'Neice? Wouldn't that mean… that he's older than her?' Shaking her head, she focused her attention back on Kaoru.

"…well, the other day…he was teaching me something."

"Wait," Tomoe interrupted suddenly. "Why do you still see him so often if he rescued you?" Kaoru blinked, and Tomoe noticed a hint of red in her cheeks.

"I… he looks out for me. I don't really have any family, so…" she drifted off, looking at Tomoe to see if it was ok to continue. Tomoe nodded, smiling but looking slightly distant, as if she was half-concentrating. Kaoru felt her stomach drop- but there was no way Tomoe could know anything. She continued. "And somehow… things started heating up, and…" she blushed furiously. "He kissed me."

Despite herself, Tae grinned.

"How was it?" she asked in a voice that made Kaoru grin the tiniest bit.

"It was…" she struggled to find the appropriate word and Tomoe couldn't help but smile. She certainly was in love. "…soft." She said so very gently that both her friends held "awwws" to themselves. Tomoe pushed past the urge to exclaim how cute it was to ask an important question.

"So why are you upset?" she asked gently. Kaoru set her ice cream cone down and clasped her hands together underneath the table, leaning forwards against the table.

"He pulled away looking upset. And then he left without saying much of anything, and… its been nearly a week, but he only talks to me when he absolutely has to." She felt hot tears roll down her cheeks and choked on a sob as Tae wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, Kaoru," she said understandingly. "He sounds like a jerk! Don't waste your-"

"He's_ not_ a jerk!" Kaoru insisted, turning her tear stained face to her friend. "he's just… angry at me, or upset because it was wrong…"

She sniffled for a moment as Tae comforted her.

"Kaoru… what made it wrong?" she asked. Kaoru wiped her nose with a napkin and looked up at her older friend shyly.

"He's… older than me."

"How much older?" Tomoe pressed. Kaoru squirmed.

"He's an adult." She whispered hoarsely. Tomoe felt something click as her suspicions arose, but did not feel it was best to ask right now. Not knowing what to say, she patted the younger girl's hand gently. Suddenly Tae looked at her watch.

"Oh, shoot, I forgot my dentist appointment!" she said, standing abruptly. She gave Kaoru a hug. "Don't worry, Kaoru, he'll come around." With a last sympathetic glance, she was off. Kaoru watched her go.

"I should go too." She said, her voice retaining the dull sound again. "Thank you for listening to me-"

"What is his name, Kaoru?" Tomoe interrupted. Kaoru blinked and looked at her friend.

"Kenshin."

Kenshin had spent the past week busying himself as much as possible. Had it not been for his deep respect and devotion to his position as sensei, he would've dropped Kaoru's lessons altogether. It was agony every time he saw her- he was in complete disbelief that he had broken the student-sensei bond; he was in complete disbelief that he had taken advantage of her, fully aware of himself and what he was doing; he was in complete disbelief that he had violated Tomoe's trust yet again; and he was in total incredulity that kissing her had felt so amazingly right.

And mostly he was confused, and indescribably angry for letting himself be run by his emotions. He washed with unusual vigor, cooked his vegetables harshly, and cleaned with increasing force. Kaoru had noticed- he couldn't bring himself to talk to her, other than what was absolutely necessary. Even then, hearing her name come off his own lips sent a shiver down his spine.

"Kaoru, the rice is burning." A simple sentence like that made him close up for hours in an attempt to purify his thoughts. Not that he thought of her in a way that was unclean, but he felt that his feelings for her… they were wrong. The fact that it had felt so right to kiss her was wrong. Kaoru was just as upset, if not more so than he was. That he could see clearly, and he wanted nothing more than to soothe her hurts. But she was so off limits that he wouldn't look at her anymore. Couldn't. Her mere presence set him on fire.

So he had thrown himself into the easiest thing possible- the upcoming wedding plans. He had called a distant-sounding Tomoe – did she suspect anything? She couldn't – to ask to take care of the majority of the wedding plans. He had been ordering flowers and securing limos and searching for the appropriate wedding setting for the past three days. Sano, who had stopped by, noted that Kenshin was doing "a lot of work for no results". Eventually, with Sano's misguided help, he had set up an appointment for a tuxedo fitting the next day.

The next day, Kenshin poked his head into the dojo to find his student practicing her prescribed 150 swings a day. He heard the gentle puffs of breath she exerted as she worked, and mustered up his courage to speak.

"Kaoru?" he began, cursing himself. His stunning apprentice stopped, surprised that he was talking to her.

"Yes?" she said, lowering her bokken and approaching him tentatively. She hardly dared to let her hopes rise, that maybe they would be back to normal… but no.

"I'm leaving for a few hours to get fitted for my tuxedo. You'll be alright here by yourself?"

It was a stupid question; she had been left in his house alone before. She felt what seemed like tears formulating in her chest.

"Tux… tuxedo?" she asked, voice quavering. Kenshin felt himself quail at the tone of her voice.

"Ah, um… yes. Tuxedo. For the wedding." He was positive now that he saw tears in her eyes.

"Okay," she said, abruptly turning her back to him to begin her swings again. Kenshin stared at her back helplessly.

"So… I'll be home in a few hours."

"Alright."

"And you'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"O-Okay…" Kenshin felt his resolve shake violently at her harsh responses. However, he pulled himself together and summoned the strength to leave her there alone in the dojo.

_Pretty baby_

_Oh the place that you hold in my heart_

_Would you break it apart_

_Again?_

Sano ran his hand over the material of the long-sleeved, button-up shirt Kenshin had insisted he wear a few days later. He had reluctantly agreed to the red shirt and the light khaki pants, but when Kenshin had held up a small tub of hair gel, that's where Sano drew the line. He refused also to take off his head-tie, which Kenshin assured him was a fatal mistake.

"You already got me dressed like some Tokyo Prep wanna be, I'm not changing my hair!" Sano had snapped back.

Still, now he was wishing he had listened to his smaller and more fashion-conscious friend. Magdaria was the type of girl to expect him to try real hard to impress her… although, getting him in something other than a t-shirt and jeans _was_ a miracle in itself. He nervously fidgeted with his clothes before he got annoyed with himself and rang her doorbell. After a moment of silence, he heard the noise of something running down stairs and the door opened abruptly.

"Good evening, Sagara-san," Magdaria smiled distantly, still looking unconvinced that agreeing to this date was a good idea.

"Sano," he corrected casually. "You ready to go?" Magdaria shook her head.

"Not quite. Would you like to come in?" she invited, backing away from the door invitingly. Sano grinned.

"Sure," he said, following her inside. He was surprised when the first thing he saw was a crucifix placed on the wall parallel to the door. He let out a low whistle, sticking his hands in his pockets. Magdaria, who had been closing and locking the door, heard the whistle but did not see what brought it.

"What?" she asked, clearly looking for something.

"Nice decorations you got here." Sano commented, now turning to watch her scurry around. "So you're one of them." Magdaria stopped at this, turned to face him, and saw that he was again looking at the crucifix.

"You mean a Christian?" she asked coolly, turning away to resume her search again. Sano snorted quietly in his throat; he had clearly pissed her off already. He decided to breach a more neutral topic.

"What're you lookin' for?" he asked in his lazy drawl. Magdaria, who had disappeared into another room, poked her head back in answer.

"Shoes," she said, a little sheepishly.

"Mind if I help?" Sano asked, smiling slightly. It was odd to see the sophisticated dancer seem so… scatterbrained.

"That won't be necessary," she called from the other room. Then, "Ah! Here they are!" He heard the sounds of a door opening and closing, and then the sound of her walking barefoot back to him. She held nice, natural-colored flipflops in one hand. She was flushed a little in embarrassment.

"My brother… he sometimes rearranges things when he visits, and I get a little mixed up." She said by way of explanation.

"Why's he do that?" Sano asked conversationally, noting her jacket and grabbing it to hold out to her. She blushed a little as he helped her pull it on, and laughed.

"Amakusa-san… he likes to know that everything is in its right place for me." She answered. "I don't really mind, and it puts him in a better frame of mind, so I don't see why not."

Sano pulled open the door to hold it for Magdaria.

"He sounds like an interesting guy. I'll have to meet him sometime." 'If only Katsu could see me now- holding doors for a lady and actually _asking_ to meet her family.' He berated himself, but he certainly didn't mind the change in himself.

"Hmm," was Magdaria's noncommittal reply. 'For more reasons than one, I don't think so,' she thought skeptically, though it was admittedly sweet that this great thug of a man was trying to show such sincere interest in her. There were a few moments of silence as they reached Sano's…

"Motorcycle?" Magdaria asked, looking up at Sano. "I thought you had a truck." It was a question, and Sano could tell that the idea of a motorcycle scared her a little.

"Yeah, but its in the shop, plus I thought the ol' shadow saber would be fun." He grinned at her, not unkindly. "Why, are you scared?"

"No!" Magdaria snapped. "Its just not what I had in mind."

"Tell you what," Sano said, walking to the other side of the motorcycle and strapping on his helmet. "We'll drop by Kenshin's and see if he'll let us borrow his car." He swung his long leg over the motorcycle and turned to grab the spare helmet, holding it out for her. Gingerly, Magdaria took it, wishing she had worn jeans instead of the soft skirt that went past her knees.

"No, lets not inconvenience him," she said, sounding resigned. "Amakusa would _not_ approve." She groaned quietly, trying to find a way to mount the bike while retaining female dignity. Finding that impossible, she defeatedly plopped down behind Sano. He laughed.

"But doesn't that make it more fun?" he goaded, gunning the engine. "Hang on."

A/N: Several things: A. this chapter was supposed to go on more, but I'm already at six pages! Don't ask me why, but its always easier to start a chapter than to end it, so I'm finishing Sano and Magdaria's date in the next chapter. sigh If I keep doing this, we're gonna have to add another chapter… ok. B. I'm not sure how Magdaria would address her elder brother, speaking about him to a man she hardly knows, so I used Amakusa-san. It might be a little odd, but it can't hurt, right? C. a shadow saber is a Honda motorcycle.

Thank You's:

SparklingEmeralds- you reviewed chapter one, but your thank you is here. So thank you for picking up my story! I really hope you enjoy what you read.

GreenEyedFloozy- yeah, that was definitely an "Ohhhhh crap" moment. I mean for him, for us it was like… fun. Lol. Thanks for reviewing (not only this chapter but several other chapters as well, if I recall correctly ;)

Shikaku zetsumei- yeah Kaoru's not in a cool position right now. And I actually kinda like Tomoe, at least in my story… lol. Not in the ova, goodness no. I'm so mean :P thanks for reviewing.

Royal blueKitsune- yeah I'd say they're both in an awkward position (pun not intended! That was terrible!) with each other, and the fact that they live in the same house does not help at all, as you can see. Oi vey. Thanks for reviewing!


	12. Complication

Sweet Mistake

Complication

By Seabreeze

A/N: Wow, my first three reviewers got back to me within 10 minutes of posting! That's a first, and a happy one, at that. Thanks, guys! This is gonna be a short chapter, just fyi. Had to sneak another one in here to balance things out.

Disclaimer: me own nothing.

**Magdaria clung to the man in front of her on the motorcycle for all her life was worth**, though at this point she really didn't want to. The date had been possibly the worst evening of her life. She knew that perhaps she was being too moody and judgemental, but it had all just been too much- the motorcycle, Sano's attention, his roudy and terribly rude friends who had just _happened _to show up at the same restaurant they were dining at. She had been miffed, and Sano in turn had been rude, and she had been waspish back and so on and on. Why on _earth_ did I agree to this? She wondered, tightening her grip on his waist nonetheless. I _knew _it could only go badly.

Despite her anger and frustration with the man in front of her, she felt a pang of sadness in her somewhere- something that she did not understand at all, and thus ignored. For a moment, her eyes had even filled briefly with tears- she blinked them back, knowing that the wind in her face wasn't helping. Uggg, she thought. Men. Muto had been right, she should've stayed away from men. As they neared her house, she felt her heart lighten. When they finally pulled up to her curb, she immediately removed her helmet and steadied her hands on his back as she swung off the motorcycle.

"Well," she said dryly. Sano snorted, eyes narrowed as he surveyed her.

"Well. Its too bad we couldn't manage to get along for an evening." He replied evenly. Magdaria glared back at him.

"At least it was… interesting." She retorted. With another snort, Sano kicked the engine back into life and drove off. "Hey!" she called, though there was no way he'd heard her. She looked at the helmet still held in her hands.

"Fine, then." She said to herself quietly, heading back inside to her house.

**Tomoe ran fingers through her already silken hair and sighed before ringing the doorbell in front of her**. Her heart beat a little faster when the door was pulled open, and her friend Akira smiled genuinely down at her.

"Tomoe-san!" he said, motioning her inwards. "You brought cake! How kind." Tomoe smiled and held it out for him to take.

"It is only polite to offer food to my host," she replied with a smile. "Plus, I don't mind baking once and again." Akira smiled down at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat before he turned to put the cake in the kitchen.

"Make yourself comfortable," he called. "We'll be in the living room."

"Alright," Tomoe called back, making her way through the hall to the comfortable living room. White walls and carpet surrounded plum colored furniture with red accents. In Tomoe's opinion, it was quite nice. She sat herself on the loveseat and crossed her legs, waiting patiently for her friend to return. For a few moments nothing happened. Tomoe wrinkled her nose at the oddness of feeling alone in a friend's house.

"What're we watching?" she called to him to ease the silence. She heard the noise of a pan being set on the counter before he replied.

"I was thinking something classic, like Seven Samurai. Or we could watch Ringu, if you like." His voice had turned sly at the mention of the acclaimed horror film, and Tomoe smiled. He was implying that she would be scared. He would see.

"I haven't seen Ringu yet, I've heard it was good," she said lightly, as if she hadn't noticed his teasing.

"Ringu it is, then." He said, enterting the room with two plates of Tomoe's cake and two glasses of what looked like strawberry wine on a tray.

"Wine and cake and a horror movie," Tomoe noted with a half smile, and Akira shrugged while sitting carefully beside her, so as not to spill the wine on the tray.

"I never said I'm conventional," he said cheerfully. Handing her the tray, he stood once more. "I'm just going to pop the movie in," he explained. Tomoe took a sip of the wine and nodded.

"Sure," she replied. "This wine is good! Its so light."

"Well, I'm quite picky about the wine I drink." Akira replied easily, turning on the monitor. "All set." He flicked off the lights as he returned to sit next to Tomoe. She set the tray on the table in front of them and handed him his glass of wine.

"Thanks," he replied, inching unnoticeably nearer to his guest.

**Ten minutes into the movie, Tomoe was questioning whether it had been wise to act brave for Akira.** She had nearly screamed twice, and was trying terribly hard not to shake like a leaf. As the music tensed and the images on the screen grew darker, she felt her heart race in fear. The music hits its climax as the screen was filled with the grotesque image of a dead girl, her face and body looking so dead that it seemed she had been dead for months, not minutes. With a gasp, Tomoe hid her face in Akira's shoulder, grasping his arm tightly with both hands. He stiffened before arranging a careful arm around her shoulder.

"Don't be frightened, its just a movie." He said softly.

"I'm _not_ watching any more of that," Tomoe declared into his shirt, not moving from Akira's grasp.

"And here I thought you weren't going to be scared." He teased, running a finger down her cheek. This, more than anything else, brought her to lift her face to look at him.

"Akira?" she whispered, as the music in the movie began tensing once again.

"You know you don't have to be scared of anything with me," he said, speaking so intimately that she felt herself blush. Their faces were inches apart.

"I know," she said, so quietly that he barely heard it. In a moment, even the shrieking from the movie was tuned out as they stared at each other. As the movie quieted down, Akira slid his finger down to her chin and lifted it so that her lips were raised, mere breaths away from his.

"Can I kiss you, Miss Tomoe?" he asked, in barely a whisper. There was no need for volume, they were so close. She felt herself nod, and he was kissing her, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. She removed both hands from his arm, wrapping one around his neck and moving the other to his cheek. In turn, he wrapped both arms around her waist, pulling her even closer.

It wasn't until several minutes later that they broke the kiss, and Tomoe inhaled heavily.

"Oh, Akira," she whispered against his lips. She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and wiped it away before he could see it. Lying her head on his shoulder, they resumed watching the movie.

**At six in the morning, Kaoru rose and showered before heading out to do the laundry**. She never used to get up this early, but lately she had been so depressed – with Kenshin ignoring her, she went to bed early, and thus began rising before the sun had. Flicking her bangs from her face, she went to the task of gathering the clothes from the clothes line, starting with the smaller items (I.e. her underclothes), and moving her way up. It was relaxing, she thought, folding one of Kenshin's undershirts and setting it carefully in his basket. She picked her skirt off the line and folded it as well, tossing it in her own basket as her mind began to wander.

She was certainly not happy lately. Kenshin was her whole world, and he was acting like he couldn't stand the sight of her. She had gotten over the initial shock of being upset and crying, and was now seriously considering leaving. Where she would go, she had no idea, but living with Kenshin was becoming unbearable. Then there was the fact of the wedding coming up soon… What would she tell him? 'Thanks for your hospitality, but now that you'd rather I fall off the face of the planet, I think I'm gonna leave'? She shook her head, shaking a t-shirt in the wind to rid it of any leaves before folding it and setting it in Kenshin's basket. No matter what happened, things would not be fun from now on. As she moved on to the big, white, billowing sheets, she heard the sound of running footsteps coming towards the dojo.

"Huh?" she wondered aloud, trying to wrestle the sheet out of her line of vision. As the noise came nearer and nearer, Kaoru finally gave up fighting the wind-controlled bed-draping and stepped out-

Only to walk smack into a sweaty, running Kenshin. With an "oof", Kaoru was knocked backwards, the momentum of Kenshin's pace throwing him forwards with her. She landed with a very painful and very wet thud into the giant tub of clothes and warm, sudsy water, Kenshin on top of her. Despite herself, her first thought came to surface something like,

'Oh, not this again,' but this time was much more painful than the last. Her back had landed most excruciatingly on the edge of the wooden tub, the crooks of her knees over the over edge. Kenshin had been lucky. His hands were on either side of her waist at the bottom of the tub of soapy clothes, and his knees had landed heavily on the outside of the tub so that his kneecaps had smacked the tub painfully.

Kaoru groaned and Kenshin scurried to get up and help her out of the tub.

"Miss Kaoru! I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you at all!" he offered a wet hand to her and she took it, grateful for some assistance out of the tub.

"I think my back is broken," she whined as Kenshin's strength practically lifted her up. She rubbed it vigorously once she was standing, wincing at what she knew would be some serious bruising. "What were your doing, anyway?"

Concerned by the looks of pain on Kaoru's face, Kenshin frowned.

"Going for a morning run. What are you doing up so early, doing laundry of all things?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep," she retorted, still grimacing and rubbing her back.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern. Kaoru nodded.

"I'll have a bruise, if that's what you mean," she said, scowling at the dull pain. "It feels like it got cut, too, she added thoughtfully. Kenshin frowned again.

"Cut? It might be infected, can I take a look at it?"

With a slow nod, Kaoru removed her sweatshirt, glad she had decided to wear a tank top today. If not, there would've been an awkward stripping scene, she thought grimly. As Kenshin gently pulled down the back of her tank top, Kaoru's eyes grew huge. They had their first semi-normal conversation just now! He hadn't cut out with some excuse, and she hadn't stared blankly at him. Happiness bubbled in her chest, but she sat silently as Kenshin surveyed the damage.

"You'll have a pretty big bruise there, that you will." He said. "Its not cut, though, luckily."

"It sure feels like it."

"Not surprising, with the force you hit the tub with. I'm sorry," he said, cringing as he once again offered a hand to help her up. She took it, shrugging as she turned to face him.

"Accidents happen," she said cheerfully, more than happy that they were talking like normal people again. Kenshin noticed her smile, and with a shock realized he hadn't seen her smile in weeks. It was a welcome sight. And he wondered why he had been so keen to keep her from smiling before. He felt his insides twist weirdly.

"You have a beautiful smile, Miss Kaoru, you should not hide it from anyone." With that, he dropped her hand and walked away, leaving a stunned and confused Kaoru behind.

**A/N:** Did... did I just give Tomoe a waff-y moment? Whoa.

5 Reviews- I love you guys!

Thank you's:

Royal blueKitsune – don't worry, I'm not forgetting about Kenshin and Kaoru (how could I?), but I like to have more than one thing going on at once. Spice things up a bit. Plus, I like Sano and Magdaria. Thanks for the review!

GreenEyedFloozy – I wasn't sure what the C2 thing was so I asked a friend and she hazarded a guess that it's some sort of contest? So hopefully I don't sound conceited by saying that I'd be flattered, and I'm glad you think so highly of this story (unless the C2 thing is like "Kenshin stories that suck really bad"), and also, is there a link? I have another story in progress that I'm really proud of that I might be interested in submitting. Wow, now that my ego has grown a few sizes… thanks for the review!

Lynn-Minmay – thank you! I updated faster than usual, so hopefully it is soon enough for you, lol. Thanks so much for leaving a review.

Shikaku zetsumei – no, Sano's not having the most luck courting Magdaria currently. But he's a tough dude. Just ask his shirt lol. When I said that I wanted to change pov's, I didn't mean it quite literally… the pov stays the same, but the setting or the time changes, you know? Like when I went from Magdaria at the end of her terrible date with Sano to Tomoe on Akira's doorstep. So I just bolded new... scenery changes. Hopefully that will be enough, but thank you for the advice nonetheless!

SparklingEmeralds – lol, thanks! You rock also for leaving a review! Don't worry, I'm not dropping this baby anytime soon. Thanks for reading!


	13. Heir

Sweet Mistake

Heir

By Seabreeze

A/N: 6 reviews on the first day! Wow, you guys, I feel like I'm getting back into my writing groove. Thanks so much for leaving your thoughts, its what keeps me going  Only 2 chapters left after this one – its kinda sad.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters.

**Whatever** **had changed about Kenshin and Kaoru's behavior towards each other the day he had knocked her into the washbin had been short-lived. **Once the awkwardness and little communication set back in, Kaoru felt more depressed than before. This time it was affecting her; she suffered in dance and consequence had opted not to perform in the end-of-year recital. The class had tried their hardest to get her to change her mind, but she wanted the performance to be good, and knew she was far too distracted to perform it well. The feeling had also started to affect her training with Kenshin, except that he had said something one day that stopped it:

"Whatever you're feeling, however good or bad a day you've had, doesn't matter. Kenjutsu is kenjutsu. Good or bad, the sword is there, and it is there to be mastered."

Her training was possibly the most confusing aspect of it all. Because while Kaoru moped around and did chores, and Kenshin neglected his chores in favor of wedding plans, they both met every day at the same time in the dojo for training. Somehow Kaoru felt the adversity was making her a better swordsman, so to speak – when she was in the dojo, with the bokken in hand, she concentrated on nothing else, not even Kenshin. She listened to his words, followed his lead, but otherwise ignored him completely. He was, after all, at the root of her problems.

It was a normal spring day, less than two weeks away from the dreaded wedding, when Kenshin and Kaoru met in the dojo for another training session. Yet something was different; Kaoru noticed right away that there was a tenseness about Kenshin that had never been there. Regardless, he acted as if everything was normal. Kaoru didn't let herself wonder too hard, wanting to concentrate on her practice. He had her warm up as usual, practiced the usual strikes and some unusual ones, which in itself was not surprising either. When he announced they would spar, Kaoru felt her heart rise slightly, and as she got into stance, noticed that it did not lift nearly as high as it usually would've. Kaoru _loved_ sparring. But now, it almost felt like a duty.

They bowed, eyes never leaving each other. Kaoru leapt forward, making the first attack, a complicated stab aimed for the dead center of his chest. Difficult to avoid, she knew, but Kenshin did so easily. Before she had time to breathe, he was on her with a blow that would've dislocated her shoulder. She caught it with her bokken, knocking his sword off its course and before he had it back in position, going in again for another attack. The spar was furious, completely focused: no time was wasted, no movement lost. Looking back later, Kaoru realized that it had been wild, a battle of wills more than a spar. For what, she wasn't sure: normalcy, perhaps; the regained friendship she craved. Regardless, both were devoted to defeating the other.

In all, the spar lasted a good fifteen minutes. Near the end, Kaoru was wearing out, and Kenshin was not easing up on her in the least. Regardless, both fought emotionlessly, flawlessly. Kaoru did not let her pace slow though she was sweating profusely and her breathing was becoming more and more forced. As far as she had come since she had started training, Kenshin had still been training for nearly two decades longer.

Kenshin clearly thought he had the upper hand, and in all honesty, Kaoru agreed with him. She was done, she couldn't go any longer. His last attack was performed with a look of grim acceptance, one that snuck from underhand up towards her shoulder. Just as Kaoru cringed, expecting to feel a jolt of intense pain, the hand holding her bokken vibrated, and she realized in pure shock that she had – somehow, amazingly – blocked it. Kenshin's face, too, had surprise written all over it, and, without thinking, Kaoru attacked. It was over before she really knew what had happened, but one minute she was flying at him, and the next minute he was holding his upper arm in pain.

Her eyes flew open, and she lowered her bokken. She had struck him. She… she had won. She watched his lowered face intently, wanting a reaction, any reaction out of him. After several moments of panting, he raised his face, which was unreadable, and bowed to her. Kaoru bowed back, uncertainly.

"Kenshin…" she began, but his face split into a (somewhat pained) grin.

"Congratulations, Kaoru." He said, voice and eyes gentle. "You just beat me. You're the new master of the Kamiya Kasshin style."

Her eyes grew even wider, and her bokken clanked noisily on the floor in her surprise. She was still panting heavily, in a way that reminded him, oddly enough, of Saitoh after a particularly strenuous battle.

"But… I don't even know how I –"

"You don't, but your body obviously does. You beat me, fair and square, and you beat me good, Kaoru."

She continued to stare at him, disbelieving.

"I _can't _be the master after beating you just once. Kenshin, I've only been training for a few months."

"And you learned so fast, it was like you were born to practice the Kamiya Kasshin style. By beating me in a real spar, you proved that your handle on the style far succeeds mine. That is how all kenjutsu artists become masters, Kaoru."

At a loss for words, Kaoru gaped at him. He chuckled and set his bokken on the wall, and did the same with hers. Still rubbing his arm where she had hit him, he beckoned her out of the dojo.

"D'you mind helping me with this? I think I'm going to need some ice." He asked, lifting it for emphasis. Kaoru nodded wordlessly and followed him out.

**Not long after, Kaoru held bags of ice to his bruised bicep and **wrapped** them gently with medical cloth. **They sat in silence, where they usually would've talked. It seemed that the epic spar had done very little to make things better between them. As soon as she finished, she stood, rubbing her hands on her sweatpants. She walked a few steps away, and stopped hesitantly.

"Kenshin?" she asked, staring off into the exact opposite direction from where he was staring.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I… since before I can remember, I've been Kaoru… just Kaoru. And… now that I'm a master of the Kamiya Kasshin style… I think I'm going to take Kamiya as my last name."

There was a moment of silence, and neither moved the slightest bit to turn towards the other.

"Kaoru Kamiya," Kenshin said, his voice unusually warm. "It has a ring to it," he sounded so proud, and Kaoru for some reason felt tears gather in her eyes. She walked away silently, leaving him on the steps of the dojo.

**Sano headed grudgingly to the dance studio, a bouquet of flowers in hand.** It hurt to eat his pride so and apologize for something he didn't believe was really his fault, but for some reason he couldn't not. It was closing, and she was locking up. He broke into a jog.

"Magdaria!" he called, stopping in front of her. She stared at him with a look of dislike.

"I have your helmet," she said flatly. "You can come get it whenever."

"Look, Magdaria, I'm here to apologize." Sano said, a tad bit angrily. Her face softened, and she turned to him, sighing.

"Alright, I'm listening." She said. Sano held out the flowers as he began.

"I know our date didn't go as I wanted it to – I offended you so many time, asking you about your name and bringing up the Christian thing –" he cringed, whether as his own mistakes or the thought of her anger, she didn't know " – and I wasn't expecting my friends to come in there and be all… well, be themselves… but I want you to know… I think you're a great girl. I've never met anyone like you in my life. I – goddamnit! – I like myself when I'm around you." He caught her eyes, earnest brown eyes meeting hers. She felt a blush rise on her cheeks.

"Sanosuke…"

"No, let me finish. I didn't mean to fight with you, it was the last thing I wanted. I'm just socially retarded, if you ask my best friend Kenshin, and so I more often than not piss off the people I like the most." He paused, wondering where all these words had come from, he certainly hadn't been planning on saying them, and watched her. Her giant, innocent brown eyes were shining with something he couldn't recognize. "I'd just like one more chance. I know I already blew my first one, but… if I could just prove to you, I swear –"

"Sano," she began, her voice sounding regretful. "I… I don't think that's a good idea." Sano felt like he'd been shot.

"Why?" he demanded, angry mostly because he had unwillingly spilled his guts, only to be shot down.

"You may like yourself when you're around me, but I don't like myself around you," she lied, unsure as to why, really, she was lying through her teeth. She watched as his eyes narrowed in pain and anger.

"I've never met a woman more self-centered than you." He spat, turning and leaving without another word. Magdaria watched him, eyes filling with tears. Was that really it? Was that why she had turned him down? Her self-centered-ness? She wasn't sure. She turned abruptly away, not realizing that she was clutching the flowers he had brought her tightly to her chest.

**Tomoe smiled across the table at Akira.** He smiled back, seeming a little flustered. Less than two weeks away from her wedding, she was on her eighth date with another man. Some great part of her felt extremely guilty, and some part of her ignored the guilty one. For now, she wore an elegant black gown that was low-cut but not showy. Akira, in a nice suit, ordered them both champagne as Tomoe surveyed Akira's restaurant choice: quite a fancy French bistro, it seemed, complete with velvet curtains and candles on every table. Tomoe picked up the white napkin and unfolded it, placing it in her lap as she grinned at Akira.

"It's a romantic place you chose," she noted a bit shyly. Akira blushed and looked away.

"Any idea what you want to eat?" he asked, clearly changing the subject. Tomoe frowned but picked up her menu regardless.

"Escargot." She said, before she even saw what was on the menu. "Everyone makes such a big deal about it, I'd like to see what the fuss is about." She said. Akira grinned sheepishly.

"You're brave. I think I'll stick with cooked asparagus and a steak," he said, gathering both his and Tomoe's menus. "Sir?" he said, stopping their waiter. "We're ready to order."

"Very well, sir, one moment."

Tomoe smiled.

"You'll have to try just one," she said. Akira laughed.

"We'll see," he feigned being scared, making Tomoe giggle.

They were served, and despite her efforts, Tomoe could not convince Akira to try the snails. They joked and laughed, discussing things at work and things they had done in the past few weeks. Tomoe was surprised when she checked her watch as they waited for their deserts to be served.

"Its already ten," she said, eyes wide. Akira smiled.

"You thought it was earlier?" he asked. Tomoe nodded, flushing a bit.

"Time just seems to fly by when. . ." she trailed off, heating in the face even more as she looked pointedly at him. Realizing what she meant, he too blushed.

"Tomoe. . ." he began, but they were interrupted as their deserts were delivered.

"Thank you," Tomoe told the waiter, who bowed and walked away. "Yes?" she turned back to Akira, knowing it had been something important. He set his glass bowl of fine ice cream down and reached across the table for her hand. Blinking, she gave it to him and he clasped it as he looked at her seriously.

"Tomoe. . . I know we're just starting to get to know each other, but . . . I love you."

Tomoe felt time stop as she stared at the man across from her.

"Oh," she said, after a moment, a sob building in her throat. He squeezed her hand encouragingly.

"Go on," he said. Tomoe felt a tear roll heavily down her cheek and wiped it hastily away with her other hand.

"Akira," she said, giving him a level stare. "You know . . . that I can't tell you how I feel right now." He looked severely disappointed, and she scrambled to explain. "I'm getting married in a little more than a week!" she said, whispering now. "Even if I wanted to . . . but I can't."

A/N: Holy crap, you guys, 11 reviews total since my last update. Wow. That's so many for someone who just dove back into fanfiction writing. Thank you so much, everyone who's continued to support me and people who are just starting to read. And prepare for drama and action next chapter.

Thankses:

(I know that's not a word)

royal blueKitsune – yeah, I know what you mean – when I was reading Chiki-friend's "When the Whole World Revolves Around You" the first time through, I skipped nearly everything that wasn't KK. Then later in the story, she started writing Soujiro/Misao, and I realized that I shouldn't have skipped everything before. Just bare with me thanks for the review.

Lynn–Minmay – thank you! I love writing this story, its so much fun. And the part about Kenshin telling Kaoru to smile, it came out of literally nowhere. There wasn't supposed to be anything sweet there. I kinda liked it anyway, though. Thanks for reading!

GreenEyedFloozy – thank you so much, I'm truly flattered. Thanks for sticking with this story despite everything. You're such a good reader-friend!

GranolaBar – I do too update often! Lol. Ok, so not as often as I'd like. But don't worry, this story will definitely be completed soon. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a review.

Human Chew Toy – thanks for leaving a review! I think you read this story back when I originally started it. . . Anyhow, it was really just that Kenshin knocked Kaoru into a washbin that changed their behavior a bit. Unfortunately, nothing much more behind that. Hope to see a you next time around! Or. . . for me, I guess, this time around, because . . . Ok, shutting up.

Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko – ah, so another dance/action/romance/Kenshin fan! So far there are four of us. . . I think we definitely need a club, lol. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoy my story! Unfortunately, no KK fluff this time, but don't worry. In the future, there will be more. Thank you for leaving a review!

MissyHaze – lol, not happily ever after _quite _yet. I'm glad you like it so far, and thanks so much for reading and leaving a review!

Kiri – unfortunately I can't tell you how the Kenshin/Tomoe thing gets resolved just now. It means a lot that you said you look forward to reading this story! Thank you so very much for leaving such a kind review!

Sambina – you reviewed chapter 1, but your thank you is here I'm hope you enjoy the rest of the story, though I warn you it gets a bit rough in patches. Anyways, thanks for leaving a review!

Ss1128 – thanks for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter!

RK-128 – AHHHHHHHHHH! OMG I didn't read the name when I read your review, and you were like "you know how I feel about Tomoe" and I was like "wtf… I don't even know you" and then you went on and I was like hang on… this is KAGOME! That totally just made my whole day! Ok, so on Tomoe: I started this story before I saw Trust and Betrayal, so I made Tomoe the way I always thought she was – strong and independent. Then I saw the movie, and I was totally off, but I decided to keep her my way in this story. I mean, strong ballerina type, or pedophile woman on helium? And I kinda wanted to not hate her so much, at least in this story. I didn't want her to be the evil witch. Because for all the terrible and back-boneless things she did, she did die trying to save him. Granted, it was in a way that scarred him for life in more ways than one, but . . . oh well. Yeah, fanfiction writing right now is taking a priority over both English and euro . . . I mean, I have all the time in the world to fail AP classes, but when else am I going to write about my favorite characters? Anyways, wrapping it up, it means a lot that you like my story. By any chance, are you interested in writing again and/or doing the bouncerbuddie biz?


	14. Honor

Sweet Mistake

Honor

By Seabreeze

A/N: Writer's block again, the jerk. Sorry this took longer than usual to update. Seriously, guys, I dunno how to thank you for all the reviews. I had a story that had the most reviews I'd ever gotten, about 54, and Sweet Mistake has more than double that. 112 already, thank you guys so much. I'm so honored.

Disclaimer: Kenshin and his gang belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kaoru was dutifully doing the dishes when she heard a loud banging on the front door. She frowned; Kenshin was out shopping for dinner, and her hands were covered in soap.

"Coming!" she called, setting the plate down and wiping her hands hastily on her sweatpants. She jogged to the front door and yanked it open.

"…hello," she said, cocking her head. "Can I help you?" the man, one she had never seen before, looked equally confused, and bowed. He wore training clothes and had a sheath at his waist.

"I'm looking for Himura. My name is Akira Kiyosato, and you are…?"

"Kamiya Kaoru, I'm Kenshin's… apprentice." It wasn't true anymore, but it was the closest way she could find to describe their relationship. Akira nodded, still looking confused. "Kenshin's out right now, but would you like to come in and wait?" she asked, beckoning him inside. Akira, looking unsure, nodded politely and entered. She lead him to the dojo, and sat across from him.

"So, Kiyosato-san, if you don't mind me asking, what do you need to see Kenshin for?" Kaoru asked cheerfully. Akira knelt, bangs in front of his eyes.

"Himura and I have a … matter… to settle." He said darkly. Kaoru felt her stomach flip nervously.

"A matter to settle? You mean like papers to get in order…?" she asked, dreading the answer she was expecting.

"Not exactly." He said, still concentrating on the floor. Kaoru frowned and stood.

"Then you want to fight him?" she demanded, arms crossing. He finally raised his face, looking at her appraisingly.

"Yes," he said. Kaoru stepped back a few feet, edging consciously towards the bokkens on the wall. "And it might be best if you stay out of this, miss Kamiya." He pulled the handle of the weapon in his sheath out, revealing a real, sharpened and dangerous katana. Kaoru sucked her breath in.

"Yeah, right!" she said, completely hostile now. "As the current master of the Kamiya Kasshin style, I cannot let you attack my former master!" she ran to the wall and grabbed her bokken, hurrying back and practically leaping into position. Akira had not moved from the floor, though he had pointedly re-sheathed his sword again.

"Kamiya-san, I respect your chivalry, but my fight is with Himura alone. I will not fight his apprentice."

"You will if you want to fight him," she said fiercely, crouching lower. "Now fight me!" despite the fact that he was easily 2 feet taller than her and at least a hundred pounds heavier, he felt the force of her ki and stood somberly.

"Alright, then," he said, drawing his katana slowly and getting into position. 'I'll go easy on her,' he thought. At the same moment, Kaoru swallowed a large lump in her throat. What had she gotten herself into? This man carried a _weapon_, a sword that could kill easily. She gripped her bokken harder, and bowed. Akira bowed in response, and Kaoru attacked without hesitation, knowing that surprise and agility may have been her only advantages, _if _she had any. She was surprised when her complicated attack landed a blow on his collarbone, making a loud thunking noise as his chest absorbed most of the blow. When she stepped back, she saw surprise also on his face; neither of them had expected her to get any hits in. Akira attacked, and Kaoru blocked his blow in a way that wouldn't damage her bokken, twisting it around his blade and using the leverage to propel his blade away from her. As soon as she could, she hurled herself towards him again, aiming lower and sending her bokken in a horizontal arc towards his side. His blade caught hers expertly and with such force that it cut halfway through the blade of her bokken. Kaoru's eyes widened as she backed off quickly, knowing she was in danger. Akira attacked, nearly mimicking Kaoru's first attack and aiming for her shoulder. Prepared as ever, Kaoru raised her bokken easily to meet his katana… and in a moment that seemed to go in slow-motion, his katana snapped her bokken easily in half with the earlier damage, and continued down to bury itself into the muscles of her right shoulder.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Kenshin froze as he opened the door to the dojo – unlocked – and heard a heart-wrenching scream coming from inside.

"Kaoru," his whispered hoarsely, and ran quickly to the dojo, the source of his student's scream. What he saw when he stepped into the room made his blood chill.

There was a man, with a katana. It had blood on it. Kaoru was on her knees on the floor, panting heavily and breeding freely from her right shoulder. Her bokken lay, broken in two, on the floor between them.

He did not waste another moment running to stand protectively in front of Kaoru.

"Who are you!" he demanded of Kaoru's assailant, eyes flashing. The man looked torn.

"I… she wasn't supposed to get hurt!" he insisted, looking extremely worried.

"You came into my home and injured my student, now what do you want?" Kenshin snapped harshly. He could hear Kaoru's breathing become weaker behind him.

"I came to fight you. She insisted I fight her instead. I didn't mean to hurt her at all, I swear!"

Kenshin wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of him, but Kaoru was his priority and needed his assitance.

"Wait here," he hissed, and without another word, scooped Kaoru up in his arms and carried her hurriedly to the kitchen. "Are you alright?" he whispered, feverishly tearing the cupboards apart for some bandages and setting her on the counter. Kaoru nodded, looking paler than ever and gripping the edges of the counter.

"The bleeding's slowing down," she said, looking dizzy. "Its shallow, I think. The cut." Kenshin pulled her shirt off to inspect the injury without hesitation, and found with great relief that the cut was indeed shallow. He wiped off the majority of the blood with a hot, warm cloth before wrapping her shoulder as quickly and tightly as possible with the length of medical cloth. Once the bandages were tied off, he fetched a towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around her chest, helping her off the counter again and carrying her to his bedroom. He set her on the bed and brushed her bangs from her sweaty forehead.

"I'm going to find out what that man wanted and get him out of here, and then I'll take you to the hospital, alright?"

His eyes stared so worriedly into her own that she grinned a little.

"I don't think I need the hospital. I'm ok, just a little dizzy. Be careful, Kenshin?" she implored the last part, looking vulnerable and a little scared. Kenshin felt an urge to gather her into his arms.

"Don't worry about me." He said gently, and with that, he was gone.

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably, feeling her skin go hot and cold in turns with the faintness her loss of blood brought. For a moment, she felt so antsy and uncomfortable she thought she would burst, so she stood. She felt dizzy almost immediately and swayed on the spot, but held her ground until the spell passed. Shaking her head, she made her way slowly and carefully towards the dojo, trying to be both silent and steady as she went. She leaned heavily against the wall and heard their tense voices, but whatever was being said was missed. Frowning in deep concentration, she continued to pull herself along the hallway. The voices grew tenser, and suddenly the sounds of metallic swords clanging took over.

'One attack,' she counted, hearing the first clash. 'Two.' She was nearer and nearer to the door, and just as she poked her head in, she saw Kenshin's blade in a low side sweep. She cringed as it hit the man Akira caught the force of the blow directly in the side, and she drew a breath in sharply. Had Kenshin just… killed that man?

But Akira fell to the ground, holding his side in pain, bloodless.

"Leave my home now," Kenshin said coldly. Akira stood, hunched a bit in pain, but he stood proudly nonetheless. Kaoru watched silently as he passed her in the doorway.

"Forgive me, Kamiya-san," he whispered, voice slightly pained. She stared after him wordlessly as he walked out of the dojo. When the door closed behind him, Kenshin dropped his sword – bladeless, she assumed – and ran to Kaoru. He grasped her shoulders.

"Kaoru, what on earth are you doing out of bed!" he demanded, bent over vaguely in worry. Kaoru noted a drop of sweat on his brown.

"I just wanted to know who that man was. I'm fine, Kenshin, really, I've gotten worse cuts filing paper." She smiled at him reassuringly, but he couldn't help but notice that she was still considerably paler than usual.

"I somehow doubt that." He put an arm around her good shoulder, cupping her other arm. "Come on, its time to take you to the hospital."

"No, Kenshin, I promise, I'm _fine."_ She pushed at him, standing without his support or the wall's, for emphasis. "Look, it bled a lot, but a lot of shallow cuts do that. Your wedding's coming up in a few days –" Kenshin looked for any sort of hostility and found none " – and you don't need to spend an evening in the hospital." Kenshin began to interrupt, but Kaoru overpowered him. "Tomorrow morning you can check it out, and if you're still worried, we can go then." She crossed her arms and waited for his response, but he could only stare at her.

"Kaoru…" he seemed at a loss for words. He stepped towards her, his expressive violet eyes shining, and Kaoru blinked in surprise. "Forgive me," he whispered, and tipped her chin upwards before kissing her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Sorry, this chapter is short and bad. For some reason, it was hard to write. One more to go, strange, huh? Though I personally like the note I ended it on

Thanks:

RK-128 – haha you crack me up. Yeah, I had it planned that Kaoru master the Kamiya Kasshin style from chapter one. I'm glad she put her title to use in this chapter, though it was probably not her wisest move… oh well. Also glad you don't hate the Tomoe. If only she had more backbone in the real ovas! Ok, so after this story is over and my one-shot is posted, can I start bouncing the next mini-series off you? As a warning, its all (allllllllllllllllllllllll) fluff. Okeydoke, thanks for reviewing, fox! Oh, and also: I'm so mad you missed the karate stuff on tv! It… was so… AWESOME! Jo was right, asian people _can _fly! But don't worry, there was another one and I taped it.

MissyHaze – thanks! I hope you don't totally hate this bad chapter, and only one more to go! Thanks for readin'.

Ss1128 – lol I know what you mean, but unfortunately I am one of those authors who likes to torture. Muaha! Ok, thanks for the review.

Royal blueKitsune – yeah, its weird that its almost over. Hmm. As for Tomoe breaking it off – to be fair, both she and Kenshin are being cheating jerks to each other. Just not a healthy relationship, I'm thinking. Thanks for reading.

GreenEyedFloozy – lol! Tomoe is feeling the reader pressure, lol. Thanks for reading.

-little oro- - your username is cute! I just pictured a baby Kenshin oroing, it was adorable! Thank you very much for the compliment and the review.

Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko – other dance/romance/action/Kenshin fans on here that I know of are RK-128 (the dance team captain) and ASKinfinity. You'll have to tell me when your fic is up, because it sounds cool and I'd love to read it. Yeah, Tomoe's doin' a little cheating… why'd those two get engaged, anyways? I was excited to write the scene where Kaoru beats Kenshin, but worried people would find it unrealistic – I mean, Kenshin _is_ Kenshin, the man with god-like speed who's never been defeated. My trick was, both Kaoru and Kenshin fought on the Kamiya-Kasshin level, and Kaoru beat him there. Had he used the Hiten Mitserugi style… bad news for Kaoru. But anyways. I hope you like how things are developing (or, I guess, ending, now… sad!) thanks for reading.

SparklingEmeralds – wow, I didn't know other people had the same initial idea as me. It'd be interesting to see where they took it. One chapter left. Thanks so much for the review.

Tootifruity – thanks! I hope you like this chapter and the next (and enjoy them). Thanks for reading.

Tsubasa wo Motsu Mono – oh, I dunno, I think anything frozen placed in a room full of fire won't last too long, lol. Thanks for stopping by (again)

Sulou – I'm glad you like what you're reading, I hope this chapter is up to par. Thanks for reading.

Mistress Kamiya – lol, hopefully you are not too disgruntled to find out I tried to make Tomoe more likeable. Thanks for leaving a review.

Aoi senshi – thanks! I definitely will (am?) continuing it.


	15. Bells

Sweet Mistake

Bells

A/N: Last chapter. Sad. If you remember, a few chapters ago I said I had a secret, and I will reveal that secret after this last chapter! So get excited, but don't read ahead! And in general, a massive, blimp-proportioned thank-you to everyone who read reviewed my story. Arigato.

Also, a GIANT apology for not updating! School started, and things just went insane… no excuse, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin, but that Watsuki guy does, so go bother him.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Kaoru?" a voice called through the haze. She groaned, for some reason dreading to wake up, and rolled over onto her stomach.

"Go 'way," she mumbled into her pillow. The voice continued, though she now dragged the blanket over her head.

"Please? I just need some help with this…"

Why did she anticipate the coming day with such trepidation? It wasn't rainy, and she wasn't in the brothel anymore… then it hit her. She groaned louder.

"Kaoru? Are you alright?"

It was the morning of Kenshin's wedding.

Suddenly it was all very clear. Kaoru sat up, scowling, and threw her covers off her legs. She twisted her messy hair into a long braid and pulled a t-shirt over her tank top before heading sleepily (and grumpily) to her friend's aid.

"Coming, Kenshin," she said, and started to yawn but stopped midway through as Kenshin stepped into her line of vision. He looked… striking. His black trousers, crisp white shirt, and light violet vest made him look ridiculously handsome. His hair was down – it was never down – and hung down his back, with shorter strands in the front floating gently on his shoulders. She realized her jaw had dropped and picked it back up. "You clean up nice," she said, crossing her arms as she realized how ruffled she herself must've looked. Kenshin's cheeks tinted slightly.

"Thank you," he said. He suddenly pulled a tie out from behind his back and held it towards her a little sheepishly. "Do you by any chance know how to tie ties?" he asked. Kaoru stared at him for a moment, one eyebrow raised.

"Luckily, yes," she said, taking it from him and starting to tie it around his neck. "I'm not going to ask why you don't." she said. It was odd, she thought, as she stood behind him and reached to tie the knot in front of his throat, how matter-of-fact she was acting. In truth, she was numb. She was losing her best friend and her first love, and she didn't even know where she'd go-

She started, eyes widening. She had completely overlooked the fact that she would have nowhere to go once Kenshin was married.

"Kenshin!" she said, finishing the tie and spinning him quickly to face her. He had a terrified look on his face, as if expecting her to kiss him. "I just realized – where am I going to go now? I can't stay here anymore, not with you married – " Kenshin laughed softly, interrupting her.

"I must've forgotten," he said gently, turning to the temporary full-length, multi-angle mirror and pulling on the jacket of his tux. Kaoru put her hands on her hips.

"Easy enough for _you_ to laugh about, but what am I gonna do!" she demanded, and she noted tears were welling in her eyes. She blinked several times until they were gone, not wanting him to see them. Kenshin adjusted his tie and turned to her, smiling a little sadly.

"No, Kaoru, I forgot to tell you about what you'll do once I'm married. Honestly, I can't believe I overlooked it, but… things have been crazy." He sighed and sat down on a bench, motioning for her to join him. Warily, Kaoru sat, leaving at least a foot of space between them. "Kaoru… when you inherited the Kamiya Kasshin style, you inherited this dojo." Her eyes grew impossibly wide as he watched her reaction, smiling. "It has been the custom of the master of the Kamiya Kasshin style since the Meiji era, the passing of this dojo. Its almost like a familial inheritance." Her eyes were filling with irrepressible tears now, and she choked back a sob. "This is your home until you pass your title of Master onto one of your students, Kaoru," he said, softly, wiping a tear from her cheek. Kaoru let go and let out a wail as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Kenshin, I don't know what to say…" she said after a moment as he stroked her head. Suddenly she realized she was crying onto his perfect tuxedo jacket. "Oh, Kenshin!" she exclaimed, jumping away from him. "I'm so sorry!" before he could make a sound, she raced into the kitchen and got a dry cloth, raced back, and was dabbing the tear-spots off his shoulder. "How stupid," she muttered, close enough for him to hear her, but tears continued to stream down her cheeks, partially in joy for having a home of her own, and partially in the great sadness of losing him. He took the cloth from her hands and dropped it on the ground.

"It'll dry on the way there," he said soothingly as she watched it fall gracefully to the ground. They were still close, close enough to kiss, but Kaoru knew that she wouldn't allow it. Not on his wedding day. He raised both hands to her face in an attempt to stop the flow of tears. "I can't say how much you mean to me," he said, voice hoarse and cracking. A fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks at his words, and he stepped closer, wanting to better comfort her, but holding back.

"Kenshin, please don't," she pleaded, gripping his wrists. Despite the bittersweet tang of the moment, Kenshin smiled sadly. He kissed her forehead and tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears.

"No, of course not, Kaoru," she said very kindly. He pulled away and she pulled herself together. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me." With the familiar rurouni grin, he was gone. Kaoru stood for minutes afterward, staring at the doorway. Even after she had heard the car start up and drive away, she stood, watching and waiting.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Kenshin drew in a shaky breath, rubbing his hands together nervously. He stood before a packed church, waiting for the bride to make her way down the aisle. Tomoe had insisted on a western-style wedding, and Kenshin, not caring too much either way, had agreed. Beside him stood Sano, looking surprisingly slick (and yet still tough) in a tuxedo similar to Kenshin's. When Kenshin would look at him for reassurance, he would grin despite doubting the legitimacy of the marriage. Whether he knew it or not, Sano knew Kenshin had feelings for the little missy, and no doubt he was having second thoughts about Tomoe.

He had no idea that he was unbelievably right. Kenshin felt panicked; he knew in his heart that Tomoe was walking down the aisle, but for some reason when he imagined the bride lifting the veil, it was Kaoru's face he saw. He fidgted and Sano nudged him, but he ignored him irritably. He was growing more restless by the second, and wanted _something, anything_ to happen. When he thought he could stand it no longer, the wedding march began playing on the organs, and the wide, heavy church doors opened slowly. The light from outside shone into the dark church, illuminating the woman in white standing in the doorway. There was a rumble as everyone turned in their seats and a communal murmur of awe as Tomoe, escorted by her father, began walking slowly up the aisle. Even from far away, Kenshin could tell she looked stunning. An affectionate grin took over his face despite the panic in his heart. He shut down his thoughts as he watched her make her way slowly down the aisle with her father, a small girl trailing them to make sure her veil didn't drag. As she drew nearer and nearer, he watched her face closely.

As usual, it was unreadable. Her father, who held her hand gently, bowed to Kenshin, holding his eye. Kenshin nodded, understanding the ritual of Mr. Yukishiro passing Tomoe over to him. He bowed back and took Tomoe's hand onto his elbow. Together, they turned towards the priest who began speaking, half to them and half to their families and friends.

Ten minutes in, Kenshin found that he had stopped paying attention, and that his mind was wandering along about absolutely nothing at all. He was jerked out of his reverie when he felt Tomoe press her elbow into his side very slightly. Kenshin looked around quickly, wondering if he had day-dreamed right past his I-do, when he realized the priest was still talking – commitment, love, hard work. He leaned in slightly towards Tomoe.

"You okay?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. She was gripping his elbow, he suddenly noticed, harder than necessary. Tomoe murmured something in response, but it was too quiet for him to hear.

"What?" he whispered back, but before she could answer coherently, the Priest had turned to them.

"Now, do you, Tomoe Yukishiro, take Kenshin Himura to be your lawful, wedded husband?"

"I…" there was a hitch in her breath, and in a second everyone in the church grew tense.

"Miss Yukishiro?" the Priest asked softly, so that only Tomoe and Kenshin could hear it.

"I…I do." The breath held by the entire church was let out, and the Priest smiled kindly.

"And do you, Kenshin Himura, take Tomoe Yukishiro to be you lawful, wedded wife?" he asked. Kenshin felt his heart stop. He couldn't go through with it.

"I-"

"I can't!" those two words rang out in the silent church, from two voices joined together. Kenshin stared disbelieving at his fiancée.

"Tomoe?" he asked quietly, turning towards her. She, too, looked equally surprised.

"Neither of us…?" she whispered, looking confused and relieved at the same time. Kenshin shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, Tomoe, but… I don't love you, not in a way to marry you."

"No no no, Kenshin, _I'm _sorry… I love Akira, I can't help it, I _tried,_ but…"

"Tomoe," he said kindly, taking her hands in his own. "I will always love you. But I have to get back to her, she thinks I'm marrying you-"

"I have to get back to _him_!" Tomoe interjected, almost excitedly. She threw her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Kenshin… we'll still be friends, right? I want to meet her… and I want you to meet him…"

"Call me tomorrow," Kenshin said, pulling away and grasping her hands for emphasis. "I mean it."

"Of course I will." She responded breathlessly, and he kissed her cheek, and with that, they were both gone.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Kaoru lifted the bokken over her head again.

"Ninety-seven," she muttered, dripping sweat as she concentrated on nothing but the total control of all the muscles in her body.

"Ninety-eight… ninety-nine…"

But before she could finish her 100 warm-up swings, the doors to the dojo burst open, and the light from outside filled the room. Kaoru threw an arm over her face to protect her eyes and at the same time brought her bokken up in a protective stance.

"Who's there?" she demanded fiercely, so warmed-up and confused that she was ready for a fight. A warm chuckle answered her.

"So quick to defend, Kaoru," The voice said. Kaoru's eyes grew in recognition, and in a moment his silhouette stepped into her line of vision.

She dropped her bokken to the floor, where it clanked loudly in the otherwise-silent dojo.

"…Kenshin?"

"Yes." He continued to walk towards her so she could see the features of his face, from his sleek red hair to his cross-shaped scar. At last he was standing before her, smiling so broadly that her heart lifted a little.

"…you forgot something?" she asked after awhile of just staring, not daring to hope that maybe, just maybe, he was back for good…

"You could put it that way," he replied, still smiling down at her. Kaoru's heart fluttered a little, but she still felt confused.

"Um… what did you forget?"

In reply, Kenshin wrapped her in a tight hug. She squeaked, surprised by his reaction.

"Kenshin… what about – what about your wife?" she asked, refusing to let his strange behavior keep her from finding out what on earth was going on. Kenshin pulled back enough to look at her.

"We called it off, Kaoru."

"You…?"

"Tomoe and I. We called off the wedding. We both realized that it wasn't going to work. We both have our hearts set on… other people."

"Kenshin…" torn between the burning desire to ask him more questions about what happened, and the intense need to know what it meant for her, Kaoru remained silent.

"You understand what I am saying, right?" he asked, smiling tenderly at her. She bit her lip, feelings tears well up – could it really be true? – and shook her head 'no'. He lowered his face towards her and laid his forehead against her own, smiling still. "It means its okay," he whispered.

Kaoru let one small sob creep out of her throat before throwing her arms around his neck.

"You're lying," she accused, holding him tightly to herself. He grinned.

"No, I'm not."

- - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: I debated about whether I liked that ending or not… but I think I do. For the purposes I meant to serve. But…Yaaaaaay! They get to be together!

However… if you recall, Kaoru's still underage. Soooo… drumroll, please, I'm about to reveal my well-kept secret…

SEQUEL!

…

Ok, so its not _that_ exciting, but I'm excited to write it. It'll be shorter, around 6 chapters, but it'll tie things up a bit more. And I have a few stories coming before it, so be sure to check them out. Shameless self-plugging to follow:

I have at least four stories to come in the next few months, mostly Kenshin ones with some Inuyasha in there… and who knows, I may try a Case Closed one sometime soon. But the Kenshin ones are as follows, in no particular order –

Love Is… - non-AU, the happier, cheesier side to Kenshin and Kaoru's married life.

Sweet Closure – continuation of this story, duh

Nothing to Lose – AU. Comedy, Action, Romance. Definitely _not_ your typical AU fic. Heh. That's all I'm saying.

So I'd be much obliged if you checked some of those babies out.

I'm also doing a few inuyasha ones, possibly including a dance-themed AU. Be sure to check it out if that sounds at all appealing.

Also, note on the overall crappiness of this chapter: Tomoe and Kenshin's wedding was western-style, because I don't know enough details about Shinto or Buddhist marriage ceremonies. I know a little, but I wasn't comfortable with writing about it like I really knew. However, clearly I don't know much about western weddings, either – hey, I haven't been to one in years, and when I did go I was too young to care to pay attention! So those're my excuses.

Thank You's:

Aoi senshi – lol, thank you. I hope you enjoy this final chapter…. cringes thanks for sticking with me.

Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko – now that I am officially your aim stalker… lol, just kidding. Hopefully the thing I talked to you about was untrue… or I am breaking a rule or two right now. Sorry for not updating very soon (my excuse? School!), and thanks so much for being such a loyal reader.

Lynn Minmay – I don't think this chapter will be good enough to be considered something, well, good, but I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of the story, at least. Thanks for reading with me.

RK-128 – Akira in that chapter basically challenged Kenshin to a duel for Tomoe's hand, and Kenshin's like, eff that, so he just beat the crap out of him. You're right, though, I've never mentioned Kenshin's job…. heh... he DOES have one, I assure you, he's like a lawyer I think. I dunno. I knew two years ago when I started this story. Dunno if this chapter's longer than last, my formatting got all rearranged and I dunno what's long and what's not anymore… however… if you do attack… my bokken will be at hand!

-little oro- - can't get over how cute that name is… anyway…thanks for the kind review, I'm glad you enjoyed my story so much.

Sapphire-bubbles – unfortunately, the answer to your cliffhanger problem is another cliffhanger… they're kinda addicting to write. I don't mean to torture! - Thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story.

Drawkcab – haha, I'm glad that kiss was appetizing for you. I'm also glad you like my story enough to leave a review! Thanks so much!

MissyHaze – thanks so much, and thinks for reading and reviewing all along!

Wc girl – only this chapter left, sadly, but I'm so flattered by your comments! Hopefully you will enjoy the sequel just as much. Thanks for reviewing.

GreenEyedFloozy – awww, thanks! It was definitely one of the harder ones to write, so I'm glad the work paid off! I hope you like this final chapter, and stick around for the sequel! Thank you so very much for reading my story and enjoying it.

Anime-needy – thanks! Not too hard to keep up for one last chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

Sulou – Kenshin apologized for kissing her, because he felt it was wrong and that he was corrupting or hurting her somehow. He had been cold earlier to keep her at a distance and safe. Aww. Heroes are so cute. I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review.

Crazed T.V. Girl 18 – yep, Kenshin decided he cared for her. He definitely did all along, its just that he finally let it show. Kinda. Sorry for the mean cliffhanger! I hope this chapter is acceptable, and the wait for it not too painful. - anyways, thanks so much for reviewing all my chapters – _you _rock!

SparklingEmeralds – nope, not so sure this story has to end here! I hope you liked this chapter, and continue to read the sequel series, Sweet Closure. Thanks for the reviews.

Royal BlueKitsune – lol, I like how you put that. They finally kissed and nobody died. Heh. Thanks for all the reviews throughout my writing process! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

ASKInfinity – I definitely know how it goes – life is insane, especially when school starts back up again. I'm glad your dance is a lyrical! I'm taking sooo much dance, and since it's the first week, I might die from muscle pain. But I love it - Unfortunately, no more dance in this story, but maybe some in Sweet Closure, and A LOT in my upcoming Inuyasha fic. Just watch for it, the title will totally give it away… thanks for your reviews! I look forward to them! I hope you enjoy this chapter!


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